It's My Game
by Rynn-Sama
Summary: A few years have passed since the end of Digimon: Zero Two. This time a new evil has gone to plague the Digital World. As our chosen children try to fight it they do no know that they are really playing into the hands of the enemy. FDD's included.
1. Wanting to Win

A/N: This is for two people. 'Hana' for introducing me to Digimon and co- authoring my first Digi-fic with me. The second is 'Mero' the one who helped me through a hard time and made me realize that there can be a Kai without Hana. For all you who think I own Digimon I am flattered really but nope I don't. ^^;; It's owned by rich people in Japan. I wish I was one of them. I also got the idea of this from a book trilogy called "The Forbidden Game" It's not really all that similar but similar enough that I think I should give the author L.J. Smith credit where credit is due.  
  
Feb.04/04 UPDATE: For all you who are first time readers, You don't really have to pay much attention to this notice. The only thing that may interest you is that I'm changing Cody to Iori and Yolei to Miyako and I haven't caught all of them yet. Their English names were bothering me. I'm sorry if this is confusing but it will be worked out shortly. All those who have read chapters, you're going to want to re-read them because I have re- written them with more information and things that will hold more consequence in chapters to come. Also details were lacking in some parts in the rush to put up another chapter so now it's to my liking. Please ENJOY! Hopefully Chapter 9 onward will be written soon.  
  
~  
  
Tai lay on his bed tossing his soccer ball up and down trying to get his mind focused for the upcoming game. Not only was it the last game of the season, was also against Odaiba's rival high school, Nishi High, who, were also the toughest team to play against. Tai was feeling a lot of pressure resting on this game. This year he had been chosen to be captain of the soccer team and now it was his responsibility to lead his team to victory. If he wanted to keep the position of captain for next season, be better put on one hell of a show tomorrow.  
  
"Tai what are you doing?" Kari asked from the doorway. She was already changed into her pajamas and was heading to the washroom to brush her teeth before bed.  
  
Tai caught the ball one last time and sat up. "Not much. Just trying to get in the right mind set for tomorrow," he sighed.  
  
Kari smiled "I'm not sure why you're so worried. You're the best soccer player I know! You're also the best captain, in my opinion, and Odaiba's soccer team has done great this year. I mean you've won almost all your games this season. That's better than last year. I'm sure tomorrow won't be much of a problem for Soccer God, Tai."  
  
Tai chuckled slightly "Thanks Kar. Hey come here."  
  
Kari crossed the room and Tai hugged her then ruffled her hair.  
  
"HEY! What did you do that for?" Kari laughed backing away from her brother, trying to straighten her hair which was now full of static electricity.  
  
Tai laughed as she smoothed her hair back into place. It was then that he noticed the glint of metal around her neck. "Hey Kari, what's that you got on?"  
  
Kari pulled on the chain around her neck to reveal the pendent on it. The pendant was engraved with a picture that had a small little diamond in the middle with four small diamonds on each side, pointing North, South, East, and West. Four huge diamonds beside each small one finished the picture. It was the crest of light.  
  
"Wow... it's been a long time since I've seen a crest. I've kept mine put away in a drawer so mom won't find it. It's been about four years now hasn't it? Since we were last in the DigiWorld." Tai said. He smiled with a far off look in his eyes.  
  
"It's too bad that you weren't there from the beginning like the rest of us! Kari it was amazing and you would have loved all of it. I just can't believe that you got sick right before camp started that year."  
  
"But it all worked out in the end right? I got there and we did what we were supposed to do" Kari smiled, she looked sad almost "It's a shame that Wizardmon had to die. He was a great friend huh?"  
  
"Yeah. I thought that we were done saving the DigiWorld after that. But then when Ken showed up as the Digimon Kaiser you got to have another great adventure. I can't believe that it was Daisuke, Miyako and Iori who ended up with digivices. I remember when they got pulled in the first time. I couldn't believe it when Daisuke pulled the egg of Courage." Tai laughed.  
  
"Well Daisuke has been trying to be like you since we were little. It isn't surprising that he got the same traits as you and had them mirrored in the DigiWorld." Kari smiled. "And I remember when you gave him your goggles! I thought that Daisuke was about ready to pee himself with excitement! And he still wears them to this day!" Kari laughed, "I don't think that Daisuke will ever take those off. I hear a rumor that he sleeps with them on.  
  
"Daisuke's a good kid, you remember that now Kari" Tai spoke softly.  
  
"I know. I just like to tease him every once in a while. It is just weird having someone want to be just like your older brother and then have him be in love with you. It's almost like YOU being in love with me. I think that it is kind of creepy if you ask me. I still like Daisuke as a friend though." Kari smiled.  
  
"Hey is there anything wrong with wanting to be just like me?" Tai laughed and winked at Kari.  
  
"Yes there is" Kari replied seriously "The world couldn't handle more than one Taichi. With two it might explode! With all that hair. you'd start to suffocate people in the streets with it!"  
  
"I'll show you hair!" Tai yelled as he shoved his hair in Kari's face. Kari laughed and pushed her brothers head away from her.  
  
When Tai finally stopped laughing he spoke. "I really miss it in the DigiWorld. We had some great times there. Sometimes I wish that something would go wrong, just so that we could go back to save the day!"  
  
Kari smiled back "Yeah, I miss it there too. It was almost like a second home for us back then wasn't it?" Kari played with her crest around her neck, "I like to wear my crest so I can remember it there. But you need sleep right now for the game tomorrow" Kari took the soccer ball from Tai's hands and put it down by his closet. "Good night" Kari said.  
  
"Night" Tai replied. Kari then left his room and closed the door.  
  
"She's right. What I need is sleep" Tai muttered yawning. He stretched and then took off his shirt.  
  
~  
  
The day of the game had finally arrived. Tai had spent most of the morning stressing about the game until Kari had been able to talk some sense into him. Tai didn't remember ever feeling this nervous about a game before in his life.  
  
"I just know you're going to win Tai!" Daisuke said excitedly.  
  
"You better watch it or you'll jinx him" T.K. laughed.  
  
Daisuke glared at T.K. who had his arm around Kari's shoulder. "There is nothing wrong with encouraging a friend before a very important game" Daisuke retorted.  
  
"Just relax out there" Sora smiled. She was leaning on Matt who had his arms around her waist. "I wish I was going to be out there with you today"  
  
Tai remembered when he and Sora used to play soccer together back in the day. Laughing he spoke "It's your own fault for choosing to join the tennis club. I could have told you soccer was better!"  
  
Sora laughed as well "I'm better at tennis than I ever was at soccer. If you were captain when I was playing, you would have never let me on the field!"  
  
The look in Matt's eyes gave Tai enough encouragement that there didn't need to be an exchange of words between the two.  
  
"Where's everyone else?" Tai asked looking for the rest of his friends.  
  
"They are saving us spot's. Today's game is going to be PACKED!" Daisuke explained pointing off towards the stands where a large crowd had assembled.  
  
Tai's eyes searched the crowd that had gathered and saw Izzy, Ken, Miyako, Joe, Mimi and Iori. They weren't far from the field and Tai felt better knowing that his friends were going to be close though the whole game. Izzy had his head buried in his laptop, like always. It was Miyako who first saw Tai looking at them and she elbowed Izzy. Izzy looked up and saw Tai. He then smiled and waved to his friend. Tai waved back, happy that everyone was there to support him..  
  
"You guys should probably get up there too. Besides I need to warm up." Tai said.  
  
~  
  
The game was half over and it was a close one. Odaiba had a three- point lead and Tai had every intention of keeping it that way. If things kept going in their favor Odaiba would have no problem winning this game.  
  
One of the other players of Odaiba had the ball. He looked around for who was open and Tai signaled to pass the ball to him. He heart was beating fast and he knew that this was his chance to prove himself.  
  
Once Tai had possession of the ball he started to charge down the field zigzagging through the other players down to the other teams net. If he made this point they would then have a four point lead. Things were only going to get better from here on in.  
  
Suddenly out of nowhere a girl with short blonde hair and fiery green eyes was running beside him. She was wearing a green and white uniform of the Nishi team. Tai knew that he had to loose her fast. He sped up but she kept pace with him every step he took.  
  
Tai took another look at the girl. It was then that he recognized her as the captain of the other team. What sweet victory would it be if he could score a point with her covering him. Nothing else would make Tai happier.  
  
The girl made a kick for the ball but as she did, the bottom of her cleat scrapped across Tai's shin. A searing pain shot thought his leg and he stumbled. The girl took a pause in her step as Tai tripped. He crashed to the ground in a roll and stopped. His leg was still aching from the cut. The girl looked down at Tai, almost with sympathy but she did nothing to help him up. She took possession of the ball and started down the field in the opposite direction while Tai lay on the ground starting to wonder if he had a concussion from hitting his head so hard on the ground. Things started to blur and he felt sick. He lay there waiting for the sickness to pass.  
  
He could hear his coach call for a time out. Some of his teammates came to help him up but he brushed them away. It would be even more embarrassing if he couldn't get up by himself. Tai pushed himself off the ground and hobbled to where his coach was. He could see the concern in his coaches eyes.  
  
"Tai, your leg doesn't look so good" his coach said pointing to his leg where the blood was starting to flow, "I think that you better sit the rest of this game out with an injury like."  
  
"Don't even say that." Tai said.  
  
"Tai." his coach started to talk again but Tai cut him off.  
  
"I'm playing the rest of this game," Tai said with determination. "I just need to bandage this" Tai pointed to the blood on his leg.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" His coach asked.  
  
"Yes. Now get the first aid kit" Tai said. Tai was furious about what had happened.  
  
His coach ran and got the first aid kit.  
  
~  
  
Tai pounded the wall with a clenched fist. Odaiba had lost by one point. He leaned his head against the wall, flattening the front of his huge brown hair. This was such an important game and he had let his team down. What kind of captain was he? But then that girl. it was all her fault. If she hadn't have injured him the game would have had a completely different ending.  
  
"Good Game."  
  
Tai looked up to see the blonde girl from before. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her left hand while offering her right to him so they could shake on the game.  
  
"Maybe it was good for you!" Tai said, not even taking her hand.  
  
She dropped her hand by her side and her eyes held a glint of anger "Well at least we know that the best team won. You should've known that you couldn't beat us. We've been undefeated all season! What the hell made you think that you could beat us?"  
  
"You won by cheating! If you hadn't kicked me, I would have played just fine out there for the last of the game and Odaiba would have won! I just had a handicap for the rest of the game. I bet you kicked me because you knew I was good enough to beat you" Tai turned towards her. He flinched slightly as he tried to put weight on his injured leg.  
  
The girl slapped him across the face. Tai looked at her in disbelief, not really understanding that his cheek now had the imprint of her hand on it and was turning a bright red.  
  
"I was never afraid of you. I could have beat you hands down! Besides, only a stupid player would keep playing when they know they can't. You should have sat the second half out!" She said half smiling.  
  
"The game would have been different if you hadn't kicked me!" Tai glared.  
  
"Well I guess we will have to wait until next season to find out who's better. That is, if you haven't lost your position of captain. What a shame that would be, but after the way you handled this game the Odaiba captain position may be open for others" she said half laughing.  
  
Tai clenched his fist and glared at the girl. How could she just stand there and mock him.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Tai managed though clenched teeth.  
  
The girl looked up, "Well it seems as if your fan club is coming. I guess I should go" she said turning to walk away.  
  
"Yeah, you should" Tai muttered to her retreating figure and kicked a rock in her direction.  
  
Everyone surrounded Tai.  
  
"Who was that?" Daisuke asked.  
  
"Hey, wasn't that the girl who kicked you earlier in the game?" Miyako asked.  
  
"Yeah, she came to gloat her victory" Tai said, still in a bad mood.  
  
"I told you that you'd jinx him!" T.K laughed at Daisuke. Daisuke just glared at TK  
  
Matt grabbed a hold of Tai's chin and pulled Tai's face closer to him. He looked at the red cheek "Is that a hand print? Did she slap you?"  
  
Tai nodded. "Apparently violent tendencies are one of her best traits."  
  
"She's just a bad winner. I've heard that that team is really cocky." Sora added.  
  
"I still lost the game and let the rest of my team down. We've been training so hard this season FOR THIS GAME! It's all my fault!" Tai said as he pounded the wall again.  
  
"No Tai, it wasn't your fault Tai! You got injured and you played to the best of your ability after that. You didn't ask her to kick you, but it happened. No one can blame you because you did your best. That's all anyone could ask of you." Mimi said, "How about we all go out for ice cream?"  
  
~ 


	2. Ice Cream

As they entered the ice cream shop, Tai groaned seeing that the Nishi High School team from the game had chosen the same place for their victory celebration.  
  
Matt punched his shoulder "Don't worry about it, don't even think about them"  
  
The group of them gravitated to the other end of the shop and sat down at a corner booth that was big enough for their group. This was their regular booth and they were happy to see that their regular waitress was going to be serving them.  
  
"Hey guys!" She said as she walked up "Come for some post game pick me up?" she asked.  
  
"How did you know?" Tai asked shaking his head.  
  
"Last time you were here you said you had a game against Nishi. They've been gloating their victory since they stepped in the place." She said to Tai.  
  
"Figures. their captain is a bi." Tai started but Mimi glared at him so he changed his thought "their captain is a bit cocky too" he said quickly and Mimi smiled and looked down at her menu again.  
  
"Well what are you having?" their waitress asked.  
  
"I'll have a strawberry milkshake," Sora said.  
  
"Me too!" Mimi smiled.  
  
"I want a triple mountain, chocolate fudge Sunday with a coke" Tai said. He was in the mood for food.  
  
"How about I throw in an extra scoop of ice cream on that Sunday? Free of charge" their waitress winked at Tai.  
  
Tai smiled back at her "Great. I could eat probably two extra scoops"  
  
The waitress rolled her eyes "I'll see what I can do about that."  
  
"I'll have the same as him," Daisuke said quickly.  
  
"You're not getting free ice cream" Tai said glaring at Daisuke "This is MY pity party."  
  
"I wasn't expecting it!" Daisuke smiled at Tai.  
  
"What do you want Kari?" T.K. asked, "I'll pay for yours so have anything you want"  
  
Kari blushed "I'll just have a strawberry Sunday and water" she said quietly.  
  
"I'll get a chocolate milkshake," T.K. said putting his arm around Kari.  
  
Tai watched with amusement as Daisuke glared at the two of them.  
  
"I'll just have a sprite," Miyako said.  
  
"Could I have a fudge brownie Sunday?" Iori asked and the waitress nodded.  
  
"I'll just have water" Joe said when it was his turn.  
  
"Rocky Road ice cream and an orange pop" Izzy said.  
  
"I'll have a banana milkshake," Ken said.  
  
"I'll have a banana split" Matt smiled.  
  
"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes" the waitress smiled and walked off.  
  
"So who's paying for my stuff?" Tai smiled slyly "you're the ones who brought me here to cheer me up!"  
  
Everyone looked at everyone else around the table. No one spoke a word.  
  
"How cheap are all of you?" Tai glared and then laughed.  
  
Tai watched as TK whispered something into Kari's ear. She blushed and giggled, leaning closer to him. As much as Tai liked Daisuke, he couldn't think of anyone better to be with his sister then TK. Tai then looked at Daisuke beside him. If looks could kill.  
  
"Ahem..."  
  
Tai looked up to see the blonde haired girl from the game.  
  
"Oh so you've some to gloat some more?" Tai asked.  
  
"Actually no," the girl glared, "I came to apologize retard! I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about earlier, both for kicking you and also for being so rude this morning." She said and paused, trying to smile again. Tai could see that this was hard for her to say. He wondered who had put her up to it.  
  
"My name is Kagayaku, but my friends call me Kai." She held out her hand for Tai to shake.  
  
Tai just looked at her hand and then back to her eyes, making no motion to take it. Kai blushed and quickly returned her hand back to her side.  
  
"Well, I just didn't want any hard feelings after the game. Obviously you really don't care so I'm wasting my time." Kai said and then waked back to the booth where the rest of her teammates were.  
  
"Well that was harsh." Mimi said.  
  
"What was harsh?" Tai asked.  
  
"He was just giving her what she deserved" Daisuke spoke up.  
  
"She came to apologize and you shot her down. I mean the least you could have done was shake her hand!" Mimi said.  
  
"I'll have to agree with Mimi on this one Tai" Sora said, "You could have accepted her apology and then let the whole thing go."  
  
"Well I really don't care! I mean am I supposed to just act nice when I don't really feel it? What am I supposed to do about it now?" Tai said his cheeks growing red with anger.  
  
"What does that little pea brain under your huge hair tell you to do" Matt asked.  
  
"Hey man, don't dis the hair!" Tai said and glared at Matt. Their eyes met and for a moment nothing was said. Then they both burst into laughter.  
  
"I say that it doesn't matter. It's not like he is ever going to see her again. Maybe at another soccer tournament or something. That's all." Daisuke spoke up.  
  
"That is precisely the problem," Izzy said.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Iori asked.  
  
"I think what Izzy means is that if word gets out around the soccer community of how Tai holds grudges or what not it can earn him a bad rep. Then what does that do to his image?" Ken said.  
  
"Oh, I never thought of that." Daisuke said.  
  
"That is your problem Daisuke, you don't think" T.K. smiled.  
  
Kari punched TK but she herself was smiling too.  
  
"Well what about her? Does it not matter that she holds grudges? Come on, I'm not the only one at fault here!" Tai said.  
  
"Yeah, but her and her team are already known for being cocky. It's not like an incident like this does much to them. You on the other hand so far have a clean record. And it not only reflects on you but it reflects on the team!" Sora said.  
  
"Okay here you go!" The waitress said returning with their order. As she left Tai looked up from his Coke and mountainous ice cream. The waitress had given him three extra scoops of ice cream.  
  
"Okay, I don't want my ice cream to melt so I'll talk to her once I'm done. Make all of you happy?" Tai said taking a spoonful of his Sunday.  
  
They all laughed and talked as they ate and Tai felt much better about the day. He was glad that he had friends that he could count on for times like this.  
  
"Umm. Tai I think you took a little too long eating" Sora said.  
  
Tai looked up to see the other soccer team getting up and leaving the shop.  
  
"Well I guess you win some and you loose some. Today you just lost." Matt said.  
  
Tai felt a little bad but it didn't really matter. Daisuke was right with what he said earlier. He would never see her again anyway so why did it matter?  
  
"I'll just have to make up with her next time we meet then huh?" Tai shrugged and sipped his coke.  
  
Mimi just glared at him.  
  
~ 


	3. The Letters

After they had all finished their ice cream, everyone had parted their ways and gone home. It was all for the better because Tai just wanted time to veg out at home and not worry about soccer for once in his life.  
  
When they reached the apartment, Tai got out his keys and he unlocked the door. Tai and Kari walked into their apartment together.  
  
"I'll check the mail!" Tai yelled as he grabbed the mailbox key from the hook.  
  
"Fine Tai" Kari laughed.  
  
Tai ran back down the flight of stairs to the main floor of their building. All the times going up and down them helped condition Tai for soccer.  
  
When he got to their mailbox he opened it with the key and grabbed the few letters that were in there.  
  
"Bills, Bills, Bills, Stuff for Mum and Dad" he said sorting though them when the last two caught his eye. One was addressed to him and the other to Kari. They looked identical down to the last detail. And neither of them had a return address. The handwriting was so perfect it looked like it should have been done on a computer but the ink gave it away from being out of a fountain pen. Tai became a little suspicious of the letters but he then shrugged it off thinking that maybe it was something from the school or maybe a friend. Mimi was maybe having a party or something. She'd be one to give out fancy invitations.  
  
Tai ran upstairs again and let himself into their apartment. Dropping the letters for their parents by the door Tai brought the other two into the living room where Kari was watching TV.  
  
"Hey we got letters... They look the same too," he said "Maybe we should open them together or something?"  
  
Kari looked up from the TV quickly "Can we open them later? I'm watching SmapXSmap"  
  
Tai sighed. His sister was a Smap junkie. "Yeah, we'll open them once it's over. You want anything to eat? I'm starving!"  
  
Kari gave him a strange look "Tai, we just had ice cream... I'm not hungry and you shouldn't be either. You had a HUGE Sunday at the shop with extra ice cream added. I don't think that I could eat that much ice cream in a week!"  
  
"I am hungry still. Ice cream doesn't fill you. It's a great mood booster food though. I'm going to see if there's any left over curry from last night's dinner" Tai walked off into the kitchen. "You sure you don't want any?" he called back into the living room.  
  
"Yes!" Kari said and Tai knew that she would be rolling her eyes at that moment.  
  
Opening the refrigerator he saw a bowl of curry that hadn't been eaten at supper last night. His grandmother had made it and it was the best tasting curry that he had ever had. Tai loved the way his grandmother made curry because she never put corn in it like his mom did. Tai thought that it was wrong to put corn in curry. Closing the refrigerator he walked to the cupboard and grabbed a bowl. Next stop was the rice cooker where he loaded his bowl with rice and then he returned to the refrigerator where he dumped half of the left over curry on his rice. Moving to the microwave he set the timer to heat his curry and then poured himself a cup of tea.  
  
"Kari, you want some Tea?" he yelled to the living room.  
  
"Sure!" she yelled back.  
  
Tai poured another glass of tea and walked out to the living room with both. He handed one to Kari as the microwave dinged, letting him know that his curry was done. Placing his own glass down on the coffee table he ran back to the kitchen to grab his curry.  
  
When he sat back down, Kari looked over at him. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the mound of curry her brother had served himself.  
  
"You know... You eat too much," She said.  
  
"I'm a growing boy!" Tai laughed.  
  
"Yeah, growing in the stomach area!" Kari teased. That wasn't true at all. With all the time he spent keeping in shape for soccer, Tai was lean and strong.  
  
The phone rang and Kari and Tai fought over who would answer it. Tai won.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Tai, it's Matt. Did you get anything in the mail? Kari too?" the voice from the other end spoke.  
  
"Yeah. We got letters that are identical. Kind of weird if you ask me but I don't know what's in them. We haven't opened them yet because we are waiting for Queen Kari to finish watching TV" Tai answered.  
  
Kari looked over at Tai and stuck out her tongue.  
  
"Tai, listen to me. Open them now. I'll be over in a few minutes with Sora and TK. I'm going to call everyone else and tell them to head over to your place to okay?" Matt said and then not waiting for an answer, hung up.  
  
Tai looked at the receiver and then placed it back down.  
  
"Who was that?" Kari asked.  
  
"It was Matt. He said that he's coming over and bringing Sora and TK along" Tai said as he grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.  
  
"HEY! I was watching that!" Kari yelled.  
  
"We're opening these letters now!" Tai said.  
  
He threw the one addressed to Kari at her and then picked up the one for him. He stared at it wondering what had gotten Matt so stressed out. Flipping the envelope over he stuck his finger under the flap and ripped it open.  
  
~  
  
Tai looked around his living room. He had always thought that his family's apartment was quite big. It was just the right size for him, Kari, his mum and dad. It was even big enough that you could almost forget that there was a cat wandering around there somewhere, except for the fur that it left on almost everything.  
  
Looking around at the eleven people jammed into it, including himself, it didn't seem quite so big anymore.  
  
Miyako looked a little stressed "Where is Ken?"  
  
Tai rolled his eyes. It was so like Miyako to notice that Ken was missing. But then again where was that kid?  
  
"I couldn't get a hold of him" Matt spoke up.  
  
"Yeah, we tired to call him five times. Sora even tried from her Cell on the way over here." TK said "Has anyone else heard from him since the soccer game?"  
  
Everyone in the room just stared blankly at TK and Matt.  
  
Tai finally spoke up "Well, we can't sit around and do nothing until we get a hold of him. I say lets talk about this now and we'll just have to fill him in later when we get a hold of him."  
  
Everyone nodded and Tai looked around the room. They all held the same letter that he and Kari had received.  
  
"So everyone got one?" Izzy asked.  
  
All the other heads in the room started to nod.  
  
"Okay so they all are the same" Mimi said "so what are we going to do?"  
  
Tai looked at the piece of paper in his hand and re-read it again for the billionth time.  
  
"Dear Chosen Children,  
The digital world is in great trouble.  
  
You're help is needed immediately!  
  
You must gather with the other chosen children  
  
Wednesday at 1am in Odaiba Park.  
  
By the Fountain the portal will be opened.  
  
Please help save us!"  
  
"Well I say we do what it says!" Daisuke said.  
  
"You would," TK commented.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Daisuke glared.  
  
"Maybe it might be a trap" TK replied.  
  
"Can we chance it? We are the chosen children and the digital world is linked to ours. If we let things fall apart there it'll affect things here" Mimi spoke up.  
  
"Izzy have you been able to find out anything on your computer?" Miyako asked.  
  
Izzy shook his head "No I haven't. When I look at the Digital world everything seems to be functioning properly. I don't know what this 'great trouble' that the letter is talking about at all."  
  
"Well that does make it seem a whole lot more like a trap when you put it that way" Joe said.  
  
"But what if it's something that Izzy can't see on his computer. Maybe someone wants us to think that nothing is wrong" Kari spoke up.  
  
"Could you keep checking up on the Digital World Izzy?" Sora asked.  
  
The red haired boy nodded and patted his laptop. "I'll check it every hour until Wednesday."  
  
"I agree with Kari. We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Mimi said.  
  
"Well how about this, everyone who is in favor to meet at the park on Wednesday raise your hand" Tai said.  
  
He watched as slowly, one by one, all the hands in the room were raised. He then raised his.  
  
"I still want Izzy to check things out in the meantime" Sora said.  
  
"Don't worry, I was still planning on it" Izzy smiled at her.  
  
The front door of the apartment opened and Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya walked in.  
  
"Oh! Looks like you have company over!" Mrs. Kamiya smiled "Tai honey why didn't you tell me that your friends were coming over? I could have left snacks for all of you"  
  
"Uh that's okay mom. We went out for ice cream" Tai said happy that he didn't have to subject his friends to his mothers cooking.  
  
"Oh well, if any of you are still hungry, I could whip something up for you right now!" his mother said brightly.  
  
"Ah, thanks Mrs. Kamiya but Sora and I have a movie that we were going to catch. we don't want to be late do we Sora?" Matt said quickly.  
  
"No, we don't" Sora smiled.  
  
"Hey, Kari and I were going to go with you to that!" TK smiled and nodded at Kari "Weren't we?"  
  
"Umm.. Yeah" Kari said "I hope you don't mind"  
  
"Okay have fun!" Mrs. Kamiya said "How about the rest of you? Can I interest you in anything? I know you love my shakes Izzy!"  
  
Izzy's stomach began to hurt at the thought of that summer long ago when he had one too many of her shakes.  
  
Miyako seeing the look on his face spoke quickly "Actually, he's coming with me over to Iori's house to help me fix his computer."  
  
Iori nodded and they got up with TK, Kari, Matt and Sora and moved towards the door.  
  
"As much as I'd love to stay, I only have a bit of time left here and I want to get some more shopping done in Japan before I go back to the states. Joe said that he'd come with me!" Mimi smiled.  
  
Joe sighed with relief now having an excuse to leave.  
  
Tai was amazed at how quickly the mention of his mothers cooking had cleared out the house. Finally it was just him his parents and the cat left.  
  
"Well since you're all on your own tonight, I'll make you a special juice that I just got the recipe for. It's Apple, Celery and carrot juice!" His mother said starting to get busy in the kitchen.  
  
Tai sighed wishing that he had been as smart as his friends.  
  
~ 


	4. The Game

Getting out of the house at midnight had proven to be harder than Tai had ever thought. First, for some odd reason that he didn't understand, his parents decided to stay up as long as possible. It was 11:30 when they finally went to bed. These were the parents that got grumpy if they weren't in bed by 10:00. Then finally when he and Kari thought they would be able to get out of the apartment, his mom woke up to get a drink in the middle of the night turning all the lights on as she went. She was quite confused why Tai was fully dressed when he had been 'asleep' for almost two hours. When their mom had finally gone back to bed some how satisfied with the explanation that he had woken up thinking that he was late for school and got dressed really quick. Tai was very glad that his mom hadn't asked why he was dressed in causal clothing and not his uniform. He wasn't sure how he would be able to explain that. Finally Tai had reached the front door and signaled to Kari that the coast was clear. When she was making her way to the door she tripped over some shoes and made a loud noise. They decided to just run and not worry about what their parents would do about the noise.  
  
Tai was very glad that the rest of the trip to the park seemed uneventful. If anything else had gone wrong Tai would have walked away, giving up fully.  
  
As he and Kari approached the fountain in the middle of the park Tai looked around and cursed under his breath. There in front of him sitting with two other people was the blonde girl, Kai, from before.  
  
"What are you doing out by yourself with your little girlfriend this late?" she asked, almost laughing. The red haired girl beside her did laugh.  
  
"For your information, she's my little sister. And I could be wondering why you're in Odaiba Park at one in the morning too!" Tai said, his eyes darkening.  
  
"I think we all want to know what's going down at the fountain at this time on a Wednesday" Matt smiled walking up with TK and Sora.  
  
"What? Is this your fan club convention or something?" Kai sneered and the red haired girl laughed again. The blonde guy with them seemed indifferent to the whole situation. Kai and the boy looked very similar with the same green eyes and blonde hair. Tai figured that they must be related or something. He would almost suppose they were twins but he looked a few years older than them.  
  
"Could be, and you're not invited" Tai glared back at her. He was sick of dealing with her and wished that she would just go away. This was the situation that made Tai want to give up on the DigiWorld and hope that when he woke up in the morning it would all be some bad dream that would be from the strange food he ate before he went to bed some night.  
  
Kai stood up and walked towards Tai so she was standing directly in front of him. She was only a few inches shorter and Tai noticed that she was quite fit. If maybe she hadn't been such a jerk to him, she may even have been the kind of girl Tai would find attractive.  
  
"Want to say that again to my face?" Kai challenged. Her green eyes flared with anger. It almost made Tai happy to see them darken like that.  
  
"You are NOT invited" Tai repeated, stepping up to her challenge. He wasn't going to take any more crap from her. Screw his reputation.  
  
Kai drew back and punched Tai hard in the stomach.  
  
Tai winced in pain as the blow drew his breath from him. This was something that he hadn't been expecting. Thinking back to their earlier meeting when she had slapped him, Tai should have been expecting something like that. He was furious but he couldn't find it in him to hit a girl.  
  
"Whoa! Kai! Back off!" The blonde boy said, getting up.  
  
"Shut up Scott!" Kai said. He eyes fixed on Tai, she taunted him "Are you too weak to fight back? Or just too wussy to hit a girl?"  
  
"Maybe you should both take a minute to cool off" Mimi said putting her hand on Tai's shoulder, trying to place herself between him and Kai. Mimi and Joe had showed up during all the excitement.  
  
Izzy then showed up with Miyako, Iori and Daisuke.  
  
"Kai, we can't do anything while all of them are here!" the red haired girl spoke.  
  
"You're doing stuff'? At one o'clock in the morning? What are you, some sort of weird cult?" Tai said after he had recovered from the blow he had just received. Why wouldn't they just go away? How could they get into the Digital World if these three were standing around. Tai definitely did NOT want her to get involved in the matters of the DigiWorld.  
  
"Hey, why don't we try NOT to aggravate her again?" Matt said putting his hand on Tai's other shoulder.  
  
Tai's eyes flared with anger as he glared at Kai. She glared back at him with the same frustration.  
  
"Looks like Tai has finally met his match." Sora whispered to Matt trying to hide her smile.  
  
Miyako looked around and then spoke to Matt "I take it that you didn't get a hold of Ken then?"  
  
Matt shook his head "I'm not sure why. It's almost like he's dropped off the face of the planet."  
  
Miyako wondered if anyone else had noticed the missing chosen child but they were all so engrossed with finding out what was going to happen between Kai and Tai next that she was sure that the park could be attacked by aliens and no one would notice.  
  
As Kai and Tai had their face off, the pendant crests that all the eight original chosen children had, lit up. To Tai's dismay he saw that Kai and her two friends had pendants that lit up.  
  
"ARGGG!" Tai yelled in frustration and stomped the ground.  
  
Kai's eyes grew wide as she fixed them on the light emitted from under Tai's shirt.  
  
"Is that what I think it is?" Kai asked, there was a hint of disbelief and an overwhelming frustration in her eyes.  
  
"If yours is what mine is" Tai replied, angry that his wish to have them stay out of the DigiWorld business had not been granted.  
  
The red haired girl that was with Kai looked up at the group that had formed around Tai. It was then that she noticed someone she recognized.  
  
"Hey! Aren't you Izzy from my computer class after school?" She said. The girl had to be the same age as Kai. She was quite thin as well as pale. Her hair was bright red and she had freckles that dotted her nose.  
  
Izzy noticed the girl for the first time that night "Yeah.. Your name is Megumi right?"  
  
The girl nodded and then blushed.  
  
Tai thought that was an odd reaction but what did he know about girls. Obviously they were all crazy.  
  
"So then you got the letters as well" Izzy said to Megumi.  
  
Megumi nodded "Yes, we got the letters too." She held hers up. The envelope matched the one that everyone else had gotten.  
  
"Oh great, she's a chosen child? I have to spend time with her in the digital world?" Tai groaned pointing at Kai. This was too much for him to handle.  
  
"Hey! Meg, Scott and I have survived the digital world on our own with my twin! We don't need you or your friends to help us this time either! I bet you the three of us could get the job done without any help from the rest of you." Kai said.  
  
"Kai." Scott said.  
  
"You have a TWIN? Oh great!" Tai muttered. If her twin was anything like Kai, Tai never wanted to meet her.  
  
"So why isn't she here tonight then?" Sora asked, "If she's a chosen child then she should have gotten a letter too"  
  
"Well she..." Scott started but Kai cut him off.  
  
"It's none of your business" Kai said her eyes flaring with anger.  
  
"Well it looks like we've all been called here for a reason. The crests just don't light up for anything. It's been years since they've reacted to anything," Joe said.  
  
"It's lucky that I'm back on holidays from the states!" Mimi smiled. She had permanently moved to the USA but had been coming back to Odaiba quite regularly for visits.  
  
"The letter said it was urgent and that we needed to gather tonight. Anyone have any idea what is going on?" Miyako asked.  
  
"I can answer that," A voice said.  
  
Everyone turned to see a hologram of a boy above the water fountain. He had jet back hair that fell around his eyes. His eyes seemed to be fixed on the boy with Kai, Scott. He seemed to have an icy glare that gave everyone the shivers.  
  
"So, go on then!" Daisuke prompted him.  
  
"Well first of all, when all your crests reacted, you were transported to the digital world without your knowing. You are now in the Game." The boy spoke. He had a smile that gave everyone the chills.  
  
"What game? This is stupid and I'm going home" Kai said, but found that her body wouldn't move and was frozen in place.  
  
"Only problem, you're in the digital world with only one portal to the real world" he paused for suspense "at my castle." He watched as everyone digested the information smiling to himself as he continued "And to make it even more fun, I have something each of you want"  
  
Beside him appeared another hologram showing each and everyone's Digimon caged.  
  
"V-MON!" Daisuke yelled.  
  
Kari started to cry "Gatamon! Let her go!" She sobbed "What do you want from us?"  
  
"I have what I want. It's what my partner wants," he said looking at Scott. "Every game has a prize."  
  
"So what is this game then?" Matt asked.  
  
"You'll split into pairs. Your goal is to find each other and make it to the castle in one week's time. You'll have to face and over come your nightmares at the same time. I must say that your nightmares are all varied and different. Some even hard to believe that anyone would be afraid of that sort of thing. But remember that some of your nightmares are deadly. If you cannot overcome them you won't survive. If you don't make it out of your nightmare, you don't make it out of the game." He said and then continued "If you make your goal in the allotted time, you win your freedom to return home as well as the freedom of the prisoners. If not you will be trapped here forever. How about we start, hmm?"  
  
Suddenly there was a rush of wind and everything went black.  
  
~ 


	5. Odd Pair

Tai woke up. His back hurt and he noticed that he had been sleeping on his back, something that he never did because he was only comfortable sleeping on his stomach. But it had been a rough night. It must have all just been a bad dream. Something was poking his back, something that felt like a rock. Why would there be a rock on his bed? With his right hand he stroked the sheets beside him, but what he felt was not his sheets but grass. Why was he laying on the grass? And who did the body that way laying on his belong to? He looked down and recognized the blonde hair resting on his chest.  
  
"Oh great!" Tai mumbled and lay his head back on the grass. Hadn't the strange boy said they would have to face their nightmares in this game? Well this certainly was his.  
  
Tai poked Kai's shoulder "Wake up! Hey get up! Hello! Rise and shine Princess! And get off of me while you're at it!"  
  
Kai's eyes flitted open. She looked around and then jumped up.  
  
"Ah! What are you doing here?" she yelled in surprise.  
  
"Well I guess we're partners for the game" Tai mumbled, sitting up now that Kai was off of him.  
  
Kai smiled to herself. Maybe this would be her chance to make things right with Tai. That was if she didn't loose her temper or if Tai didn't provoke her. Kai sometimes just couldn't control how she acted when people provoked her. It was a bad habit that she had developed over time of trying to protect her twin. It just had worn off on her daily dealings with all of human life.  
  
"What are you smiling at?" Tai asked.  
  
"None of your business!" Kai answered. She could already feel it coming. Why did he have to be like this?  
  
Tai gave her a funny look. "Is this how it's going to be the whole time?" Tai hated the way that she tried to provoke him. It was like she was just out there looking for a fight and she was going to bug him until she got it.  
  
"Probably if you keep up that ego as big as your hair" Kai replied. Kai was frustrated. Why, why couldn't she just carry on a conversation with Tai? Did he hate her or something? She made one mistake of kicking him and that's it? No second chance?  
  
Tai could feel the heat rise in his face as he clenched his fists. Matt and only Matt was able to make comments about his hair and get away with it.  
  
Kai, knowing she had set him off again, smiled. 'At least I'm not the only getting steamed here' she thought to herself.  
  
"Why the hell are you so annoying?" Tai asked, there just didn't seem any way to get around this girl. He dreaded the thought of having to spend one more moment with her.  
  
"I could ask you the same question. But then it would look like I was copying you. Besides you think I'm happy with this arrangement? Think I want to be stuck alone with you?" Kai snapped. She clenched her fists and her body became ridged. 'Don't do it, Kai find your inner self' she told herself. Her twin had tried to get Kai to try yoga though nothing really seemed to help Kai find her center.  
  
"You're just some cocky girl off on some power trip! You think you're so tough but you're not! If you weren't a girl I'd show you what real strength is!" Tai shot back at her. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? Hadn't humiliating him at the most important game of his life been enough for her? Obviously not and it started to look like she would be hanging around to annoy him so much.  
  
Kai had had enough. This had gone far beyond her threshold of tolerance. As much as she tried to fight it Kai felt herself draw back to punch Tai. As she swung at him he dodged and punched her in the shoulder.  
  
She winced in pain, "I thought you said you wouldn't hit a girl!" Kai yelled and punched him in the stomach.  
  
"You're not a girl, you're a BEAST!" Tai yelled back and kicked his leg out to trip her. Kai fell to the ground.  
  
"Oh, you're going to pay for that comment!" she said as she grabbed a hold of his legs and pulled him down to the ground. This time it was full out, she wasn't holding anything back.  
  
They rolled around on the ground together, wrestling, each trying to beat the other. Kai started to get tired out and Tai pinned her down. They were so close and he was lying on top of her. Their faces only inches away he could feel her breath on his face. Both hot and sweaty from the struggle Tai couldn't help but smell her, almost taste her. And he wanted more. But at the same time he hated her and wanted her to go away. Things in his head were so mixed up he didn't know what he was thinking. They both just lay there, panting and out of breath. So close, he could already feel her lips on his, all he had to do was move in a few more inches and he could kiss them.  
  
Tai closed his eyes and got up. He walked a few feet away and sat down on a rock.  
  
Kai used her hands to push herself up and she walked in the other direction and stood there looking off in the distance. Being that close to him had been much too intense for her. Things started to fly through her mind and she became confused, not wanting to talk to Tai or have to face him in the future.  
  
They stayed like that, backs facing each other for a long time, not a word being spoken. Almost an hour passed before the silence was broken.  
  
"Well maybe we should do something other than just stand here. We are getting a whole lot of nothing done!" Kai finally said.  
  
"Oh and what would your highness like us to do?" Tai growled back.  
  
Kai rolled her eyes "Ummm like maybe head toward that castle and try to find the others?"  
  
Tai stopped for a moment. He couldn't think of any smart remark for that one. She was right though. They were wasting time and they did need to get to the castle with the others before time ran out and they couldn't get back to the real world. Lord knew he didn't want to be stuck in the Digital world with the mad woman for time and all eternity.  
  
"Fine, but only if you promise to keep your mouth shut!" Tai said, still clenching his fists.  
  
"Ditto" Kai said.  
  
They both started walking towards the dark castle in the distance  
  
~  
  
Scott scanned the land around them. "Doesn't look like any part of the Digital World that I've been to..." he muttered to himself. He then smiled to himself "Then again my experience in the DigiWorld is quite limited" he laughed.  
  
The girl who had been resting on the ground started to stir.  
  
Walking over, he placed his hand on her shoulder "You doing okay?"  
  
She sat up rubbing her eyes. Her pink hair fell over her shoulder. "I... I think I'm fine. Where am I?"  
  
Scott pulled his hand away and squatted beside her. "We're in the DigiWorld and I'm guessing since we're the only ones around, we are partners for 'THE GAME'" he said the last part in a deep booming voice, laughed and then shrugged.  
  
"Oh. Okay" she said "I just have one last question"  
  
"Shoot" Scott replied.  
  
Stretching her arms out she smiled at Scott "Who are you?"  
  
Scott laughed standing up "I'm Scott GaSaku. You may know my sister Kai from such movies as 'I'm the Blonde with the Temper', 'I Like to Make Other People's Lives a Living Hell', 'Vision of a Soccer Goddess' or 'Likes to Punch Big Haired Boys'." He laughed at his own joke as he stretched his hand out to help her up well "And you?"  
  
"Mimi Tachikawa" Mimi said standing up and then brushed the dirt off her clothes.  
  
He then smiled and put on his best game show host voice "MIMI TACHIKAWA! Come on down you're the next contestant in THE GAME! You will be joined with your partner Scott GaSaku in facing your innermost nightmares and getting to the castle alive! If you can manage to do all this your prize will be." Scott paused for a moment and then yelled "A FREE TRIP BACK TO THE REAL WORLD ALL EXPENSES PAID!"  
  
Mimi just stared at him blankly. Obviously his joke hadn't gone over as well as he had hoped it would.  
  
"So, I'm guessing we should get going on our way. It'll be dark before long and I think we need to get as much travel time as possible" Scott said and he took her hand to help her down the rocks.  
  
Since Mimi didn't really have rock climbing shoes on, the act of climbing down the cliff that they had been more difficult than Scott had thought.  
  
When they finally reached level ground it was sandy and windy.  
  
"Well this isn't the best weather now is it?" Mimi tried to smile.  
  
Scott laughed "Yeah. Hey things may go faster if we talk. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"  
  
"Oh, Okay. Well I used to live in Odaiba too, but my family moved to New York a while back. Now I just come to Japan to visit when I have the time. It's a lot of fun to come back and see my friends! I miss them a lot. though I do have many friends in New York." Mimi said.  
  
"Wow! New York huh? I've been there once!" Scott spoke excitedly "My parents took us there on a trip. It seems that the only time we see our parents is when they take us on vacation. I mean we can't spend anytime with them at home but we'll see them a ton when in Rome or something. Crazy that we have to go to foreign countries just to spend time with our parents. Anyway when we went to New York I spent the whole time looking for Spiderman. I never saw him."  
  
Mimi looked at him, surprised "You do know that there really isn't a Spiderman don't you? He a comic book character."  
  
Scott laughed "Of course! I was ten when we were in New York though."  
  
It was then Mimi's turn to laugh "New York is a lot of fun. There always seems to be something to do. I never get bored while I'm there but I just miss my friends here so much sometimes. One in particular too"  
  
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Do you have a Boyfriend?? Tell me tell me tell me!" Scott said excitedly jumping around.  
  
Mimi started to blush "What? Uh... no it's not... Ummm... So what about you?"  
  
Scott smiled knowing that he had unearthed a secret. But since she seemed to want to change the subject, Scott left it alone "I'm just a student at Sassho and..."  
  
Mimi cut him off "Sassho??? That private boy's school???"  
  
It was Scotts turn to blush "Uh, yeah. My dad is this really high up businessman and my mum works for him. So I guess you could say we've got some money. Only thing, my parents are never around because of it. So it's mostly just me, Kai and Hana around at home. I guess it's nice because the three of us are really close but then again, we really have no relationship with our parents. I think that since we kind of raised ourselves that's why we turned out the way we did. Kai is temperamental and always gets what she wants. Hana is quiet and let's Kai do everything for her and I'm just the nut."  
  
As they were walking along they found a door. Just a regular door standing in the middle of the desert.  
  
"Now that's weird! What is it doing here?" Mimi asked.  
  
Scott started to walk around the door. It seemed to lead to no where seeing as you could walk a full circle around it.  
  
"Where do you think it leads?" Mimi said looking at Scott who had a puzzled expression on his face.  
  
"I'm not really sure that it leads anywhere. I wonder if it even opens!" Scott said, still studying the door.  
  
"Well why don't we just give it a try then!" Mimi smiled and reached out for the door knob.  
  
"WAIT!" Scott shouted and grabbed Mimi's hand. "We don't know what this will get us into. Let's make sure we are ready for anything that this door holds"  
  
"Well. We don't know WHAT it holds!" Mimi said.  
  
"I know. But are you sure you want to find out?" Scott looked a bit worried.  
  
"Look, we can't be scared. We need to do this is we ever want to see our Digimon again. Scott we have to do this for each other." She smiled softly.  
  
"Okay well let's do this together then" Scott said. He shot a worried smile in Mimi's direction. She continued to smile at him. They both reached out together and turned the door knob.  
  
~ 


	6. The Missing

The boy with black hair paced the floor in the castle.  
  
"Why do we have to do this? We could just get rid of them all and keep what we want." He shouted at the girl with him.  
  
She was about the same height as him with the same dark black hair. Her eyes were dark and held an ice cold stare.  
  
"Brother dear, you're just going to have to wait. They won't win, we both know that. Besides this is far more amusing watching them suffer" she said. "I need some form of entertainment in my life. This place is always so boring!"  
  
He continued to pace. "Well when they don't win, what are we going to do with the rest of them? I don't want them all running around here trapped forever!"  
  
His sister laughed "What makes you think that all of them are going to survive their nightmares? We will just dispose of the rest."  
  
~  
  
Kari and Miyako were walking though the forest they had been placed in. Kari was getting sweaty and tired. She was ready for a break.  
  
"Hey Miyako, can we sit down for a minute?" Kari asked.  
  
Miyako took one look at Kari's pale face "Sit down! Sit down woman before you kill yourself!"  
  
Kari laughed "I'm fine. I think, just a little tired is all"  
  
Miyako looked concerned "Kari you look like death. When was the last time you ate something?"  
  
"Well I only really had breakfast yesterday" Kari said. At the mention of eating her stomach growled with hunger.  
  
"Why on earth didn't you say something?" Miyako shouted. Miyako reached into her bag and grabbed a box of Pocky and passed it to Kari.  
  
"Here eat up" Miyako instructed.  
  
Kari reached for the box hungrily and opened it. Taking out a pouch she ripped it open and grabbed three sticks of the chocolate covered biscuits and shoved them in her mouth.  
  
"Miyako, you are a lifesaver!" Kari smiled.  
  
"If Daisuke or TK knew you hadn't eaten at all they'd kill you!" Miyako said.  
  
"It's not that I meant to. It's just that I got so busy after I left the house yesterday that I didn't really have time to eat. And you know when you don't think about it you just don't get hungry? When I got home yesterday it was so late that I didn't have time to eat and then Tai and I had to sneak out of the apartment. Besides this is why we don't tell Daisuke and especially not TK about this okay?" Kari smiled at Miyako.  
  
Miyako kept searching thorough her bag until she finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out a bottle of Poccari Sweat.  
  
"Here drink this too. It's good for you because it has all of the electrolytes that your body looses in sweating." Miyako smiled.  
  
"Thank you so much. I really need this. I keep feeling weaker and weaker with every step." Kari took a long drink from the bottle that Miyako had handed her.  
  
"You're really lucky Kari. TK's a great guy and you're so lucky to be going out with him. And not only that you have Daisuke chasing you too!" Miyako said sitting herself beside Kari, "I wish I had someone that loved me."  
  
Kari frowned, " Miyako we all love you! You're special to each one of us in the group!"  
  
"That's not what I mean. I wish I had a boyfriend, like you Kari! Boy's just flock to you!" Miyako sighed.  
  
"Daisuke only likes me because of my brother. I think he's just using me to get closer to Tai!" Kari laughed.  
  
Miyako laughed "Well that may be true. We never know about that one. He's quite and odd duck if you ask me!"  
  
Kari laughed along with her. "Things with TK and me just worked out. We had been friends for a long time before we ever started going out. Don't worry, I'm sure your time will come."  
  
Miyako smiled "It's just. I don't think that Ken will ever notice me. I mean we are friends but I want to be more!"  
  
Kari stared blankly at Miyako. Something about what she just said made her think. Something. something was wrong.  
  
"KEN!" Kari suddenly shouted.  
  
"AHHH! Where? Where? Is he in ear shot?" Miyako turned a bright shade of pink.  
  
Kari burst out laughing at Miyako "No, he's not here! It's the exact opposite! He wasn't there when we met at the fountain. He never got put into the game! He wasn't even there when we got our letters!" Kari's expression turned serious "Something is not right here."  
  
Miyako had the same serious expression "I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed. I mean I had reason to notice that he wasn't there but he IS a Chosen Child. He should be here too. I asked Matt when we got to the fountain and he said that he still couldn't get a hold of him. I'm starting to wonder what happened to him. He didn't say that he was going away or anything did he?"  
  
Kari shook her head "Not that I heard. He said he was going home after ice cream that night after the game. No one could reach him then either.. I don't like the sound of this."  
  
Kari and Miyako just stared at each other.  
  
~  
  
They walked in silence for hours. It was quite boring for the both of them but they kept to their earlier agreement not to talk. Tai started singing in his head 'I am slowly going crazy 1,2,3,4,5,6 switch' and then continuing on from there. Kai had 'The Meaning of Love' by Depeche Mode running through her head and she couldn't get it out. It was taking all of her energy to stay sane with all that eighty's cheese pop running though her head. Finally Kai couldn't stand it any longer.  
  
"Look Tai, I think we got off to a wrong start. Can we try to maybe put some of it behind us and try to start over again?" Kai blurted out before she had time to rethink what she had said. As soon as she said it she wished she hadn't. With the way things had started between them, she was sure that he wouldn't be able to put it behind him. But she couldn't stand the silence any longer. She had to try. She looked over at him.  
  
Tai looked over at her. She looked almost sincere but he still didn't trust her.  
  
"We can try" He replied. It wasn't his ideal situation but it was better than singing that song for the fifty billionth time in his head. Anything was better than that.  
  
Kai smiled and stopped walking. Sticking out her hand she said "Kagayaku GaSaku. Nice to meet you. You can call me Kai, all my friends do."  
  
Tai took her hand "Taichi Kamiya" he replied shaking her hand "My friends call me Tai"  
  
They continued to walk.  
  
Since things were going so well Kai decided it was time to try to make amends with Tai about the game. She really hadn't meant to kick him and she had to try to make him believe it even if he didn't want to. Maybe since it was now a few days since the game he would be willing to listen better than right after the fact.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry about the soccer game. I didn't really mean to hit you with my cleat. It was an accident. I believe in fair play as much as you may not think I do. I was very impressed by how determined you were to continue playing. You take you're game seriously. That's what makes you stand out as the best captain Odaiba has ever had. Other schools talk about you Taichi Kamiya, even the private schools. I don't think you have to worry at all about keeping the Capitan position. Odaiba would be crazy to not let you have it again. Though, I was really worried about you playing with your leg injured! What if you made it worse? You know playing injured can lead to more serious injuries which may make you sit the game out forever." Kai smiled as they walked. She knew she was blabbing on but she couldn't help it. Kai tended to blab a lot.  
  
Tai was stunned. This was a completely different girl than he had thought she was. Maybe he had been wrong about her. Even though that may be, she was still a strange one. Only two hours ago she had just been attacking him and now they were talking civilly to each other, almost friendly even.  
  
"Uh, my leg is fine thanks. I'm surprised there is so much talk about me though. How do you know about the private schools? You're public!" Tai said. Even if Kai seemed to be nice now, he was sure that she didn't have any friends in the private schools. No one would be crazy enough to hang out with her!  
  
Kai laughed "I used to be in private school. I went to Teine."  
  
Tai stopped walking again "T. Te. Teine?" He couldn't believe it. Teine was an all girl private school, best in the city as well as the most expensive. You paid a small fortune just to attend.  
  
"Well, my dad is a very good business man. My twin and I were enrolled in Teine and my older brother goes to Sassho. Teine was too snobby for me though. Also their soccer club didn't compete. I finally got fed up with it that I demanded to go to a public school. My dad just about died. His daughter, attending a public school was unthinkable" Kai rolled her eyes. "My sister is still at Teine but I'm at Nishi, as you could tell because I was playing against you the other day."  
  
"But you could've gotten into any university out of Teine! You gave all that up! Why?" Tai couldn't believe what he was hearing.  
  
"I don't care about which school is better than which or if I go to a big name University or not. I want to play soccer!" Kai laughed. "School doesn't mean much to me. I mean I study and stuff but I don't feel the need to be top of the class. I do on the other hand feel the need to be captain of the soccer team, which I am very happy that I pulled off. My friend Meg, the one with red hair earlier is the one that helps out in the mark department. If I didn't study with her, I'd probably still be back in grade 4."  
  
Tai laughed too "Yeah, I'm not one for top of the class either, but I do have to keep my grades up because of soccer club. That's where Izzy falls into place, he helps me study!"  
  
"So you have a sister right? Any other siblings?" Kai asked.  
  
"Nope it's just Kari, Mum, Dad and I" Tai said "Kari is a couple of years younger than me. She's dating my best friends little brother. They're kind of cute together and they were totally made for each other. I can see TK and Kari staying together for a while. My mum stays at home and my dad works. He's around in the evenings sometimes. Mostly see him on weekends. Oh yeah we have a cat if you count that as a member of the family. Probably the most spoiled of us all! Sometimes I think that cat gets more love than me."  
  
"Well, it probably leaves less hair around the house than you do!" Kai winked at him.  
  
Tai laughed. Her hair comment didn't seem to bother him and he punched her playfully on the shoulder "I resent that!"  
  
Kai smiled "Sounds nice... I wish I had a normal family. Both my mum and dad work. My dad owns a major company and my mum works in the company too. I think she's his secretary or something. That's actually how they met, though work. Seems that their work keeps their love alive to this day. They never really seem to be home at all. While we were growing up we had babysitters. Once Scott was 15, that's my brother, they stopped getting babysitters for us. Hana and I are always having to do all the cooking and cleaning around the house when we stopped having babysitters. Mostly our parents just pay for our school, food and clothes. We get a good allowance too. Only time my dad ever really seemed interested in my life was when I wanted to go public or anytime I get in fights in school and the teachers call home. 'You're not a very good representative of our family Kagayaku!' he's always telling me." Kai muttered and kicked the ground.  
  
Tai was shocked at how rough her family life seemed to be. Maybe that's why she acted the way she did, for attention.  
  
She continued to talk "Scott was the boy you saw us with earlier. Hana's my twin though we look nothing like it. She's a bit quieter and she has long brown hair and brown eyes. She's not into sports or anything like I am. But we've been best friends our whole lives. Scott looks more like my twin. People used to get us all mixed up. Hana's a little shorter then me so when we would meet our parents friends at business functions at our home, people would always think that Scott and I were the twins and Hana was our angelic little sister." Kai said, smiling while thinking of her siblings.  
  
Tai looked at her. She must have had a hard time growing up without her parents around. Tai was about to say something when Kai spoke again.  
  
"Real sob story aren't I?" she laughed "Oh well, I wonder what everyone else is up to"  
  
~ 


	7. A Bit of the Past

Meg yawned. Izzy had been on his computer for the past few hours. Why Izzy carried around his laptop, she didn't know but it was a nice tool to have in the Digital World. She'd have to remember to bring her own next time.  
  
"Are you figuring things out?" Meg asked as she flipped her red hair over her shoulder.  
  
"No! I've gotten nothing! They've got all the programs encoded too tight. At this rate it'll take me a year to get into their system!" Izzy complained.  
  
"Izzy, I can't just sit here all day! I need to do something. So either give me your laptop or let's start walking toward that castle and try to find the others!" Meg said impatiently as she scratched her freckled nose.  
  
Izzy looked at Meg as though she has asked to have his liver. He closed the laptop and strapped it to his back. "Let's take a walk then."  
  
Meg laughed "You really like that pineapple computer don't you?"  
  
"Let's just say we've been though a lot together" Izzy smiled.  
  
"Last time that I was in the Digital World, well I guess that would be my first time, we got transported here from various summer camps. Kai from soccer camp and I was from computer camp. That's how Kai and I first met. We ended up in the middle of nowhere and there were these two creatures. One looked like a pink head with floppy ears and a horn. It was Karamon and she turned out to be Kai's Digimon. Apparently Kai had met Karamon when she was a little girl. They were on vacation with their parents at the ocean and Kai and her sister Hana snuck off at night. Something happened and Hana was drowning and two creatures showed up. One saved Hana, which ended up being her digimon, Mizumon, and Karamon helped Kai help her sister once Hana was out of the water." Meg said as they walked "I've never met Mizumon, so I don't know what it looks like"  
  
"We've never run into one either" Izzy replied as they trudged along though the desert. "What was your digimon?"  
  
"Oh mine looked like a big ugly ladybug! Her name is Ladymon but I ended up loving her anyways!" Meg smiled.  
  
"So what was your mission here in the Digiworld? Kai had said that you, she, Scott and her twin had survived just fine while here" Izzy asked interested.  
  
Meg laughed "Oh that was just a bluff. Kai shoots her mouth off all the time. Kai and I were the only ones when I was here the first time. Hana has only seen her digimon the night it saved her I think. And Scott, well I'm at all about him because he gad never heard of the Digital World when Kai and I first started telling him about it. He thought this was all some joke, but Kai and I brought him here once we realized he had a crest." Meg paused as she thought about what she had said "So I guess I've been here twice before now! When we came with Scott though, we didn't do much. Scott had his crest but we never once saw his digimon. We just can't figure it out! How could he be a Chosen Child without a digimon?" Meg finished  
  
"So then you all have crests?" Izzy asked.  
  
"Yup. Kai's is Freedom, Scott's is Power, Hana's is Belief and mine is Understanding" Meg replied. "All of you have crests?"  
  
Izzy nodded "Well yes, the original eight have crests. The others have well. an upgrade I guess you could call it. Tai has Courage, Matt Friendship, Sora Love, Mimi Sincerity, Joe Reliability, TK Hope, Kari Light and mine is Knowledge."  
  
"So you mentioned a mission. Did you have things to accomplish while you were here?" Meg asked.  
  
Izzy nodded and then told Meg of the black gears, Dark Masters, Digimon Kaiser, Dark Digivice and all.  
  
They continued to talk and the sky grew dark as they walked.  
  
"Izzy, you know how he said we'd have to face our nightmares in this game? Well what do you think he meant by that?" Meg finally asked a worried expression on her face.  
  
"I'm not sure" Izzy said.  
  
~  
  
The dark haired girl watched the prisoner sleep. What her brother saw in this girl she didn't understand. The prisoner had long brown hair with deep brown eyes. The girl was a fragile creature and very timid, someone the dark haired girl wanted to crush. For the first few days the girl in the shadows had been driven nuts by the prisoners whining. She always kept her distance, staying in the shadows, but her brother, Bob, would walk into the light and speak with the girl.  
  
The girl turned and walked deeper into the shadows, leaving the path clear. As long as Bob didn't visit the prisoner her plan would work perfectly. The shadow girl smiled to herself with an icy cold look in her eyes.  
  
~  
  
TK and Daisuke had been paired together and neither of them were really happy about it. They had both secretly wanted to get paired with Kari but ended up with each other.  
  
The area that they had been placed wasn't too bad. It was a nice open clearing beside a huge forest. Only problem was, the castle was on the other side of the forest.  
  
"So I'm stuck with TJ then huh?" Daisuke said rolling his eyes.  
  
TK just ignored Daisuke's stupid comment. He wasn't going to stoop to that level.  
  
"Why don't we just go find the others okay? I'd really like to get back to the real world." TK motioned to the forest.  
  
"Be my guest. After you" Daisuke said and both boys walked into the forest.  
  
~  
  
"Come on Hana! Mom and Dad won't care anyways! I want to see the moon reflected in the water!" a little eight year old Kai complained.  
  
It was night time and the family had rented a beach house for the week. They were away from the city lights and Kai had never seen the stars and moon quite like this.  
  
"Kai, I don't like it! We shouldn't go off alone! We're only eight!" Hana said.  
  
Kai looked pleadingly into her twins eyes. For Kai it was almost like looking into a mirror with the same features and body, though even at eight Kai had more muscle than Hana. Everything was the same except that her bright green eyes were replaced by Hana's deep brown eyes and her blonde hair was contrasted with Hana's brown.  
  
Kai pranced around in her bathing suit. "If you don't come Hana, I'll have to go by myself and how will you feel if something happens to me?" Kai then stuck her tongue out at her sister.  
  
"You know I won't let you go off by yourself!" Hana stamped her foot "Just let me get my swimsuit on!"  
  
Kai hugged her sister "Thank you so much!"  
  
The two girls walked along the moonlight beach until they had reached the water.  
  
"Oh wow! It's so pretty!" Hana smiled.  
  
"I knew you'd like it!" Kai said proudly.  
  
The two of them waded into the water until it reached their knees.  
  
Kai's eyes lit up as the noticed the old Shinto Shrine gate in the water.  
  
"Hey Hana! Let's swim out to the Torii!" Kai smiled devilishly.  
  
"You know mom and dad said not to do it! There are big currents out there!" Hana said, trying to be a voice of reason to her twin  
  
"Hana, I feel like there's something out there! I just HAVE to go!" Kai said, already starting to swim off.  
  
"Kai! I don't swim as well as you!" Hana called,  
  
Kai still swam towards the Torii.  
  
"Oh bother!" Hana muttered as she swam off after her sister.  
  
Kai had reached the Torii and was waiting for Hana.  
  
"See that wasn't so bad!" Kai smiled as her sister swam next to her.  
  
Hana was out of breath and barley able to tread water.  
  
"Kai, I, uh, don't" Hana could barley get the words out "Think, *cough*, I can make" Hana sputtered a bit "it back!"  
  
Kai looked worried "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get back to dry land!"  
  
"Kai!" A voice called from a distance.  
  
The two girls looked at each other frightened.  
  
"Hana!" another voice called.  
  
"Kai, this isn't funny if it's one if your jokes!" Hana glared.  
  
Kai looked petrified "Hana, I have nothing to do with this! I swear it!"  
  
"Kai!"  
  
"Hana!" the voices called again.  
  
One sounded like it was from under the water and the other from the air.  
  
"Kai, I'm scared!" Hana spoke softly.  
  
"Me too." Kai replied.  
  
The two girls looked up the Torii. There seated on top of the Torii seemed to be a pink head of some sort.  
  
"Kai!" the pink head called again.  
  
Hana screamed and accidentally breathed in some water. It was too much for Hana's small body to handle after the swim out to the Torii. Her lungs started to fill with water and she thrashed around as the current started to pull her under.  
  
"HANA!!" Kai screamed. It was her fault. She had been the one to make Hana come. Kai knew Hana couldn't swim as well yet she still made her sister come. And now her twin was going to die.  
  
"I'll save you Hana!" She cried and dove under water to try to find her sister. There under the water looked like some sort of large frog. It was purple and in its hands was Hana's body. Kai swam towards the frog and started hitting it. She wouldn't let this strange ocean creature kill her twin.  
  
"Don't hurt me! I'm trying to save Hana!" the frog said. "Here, trust me and get on my back"  
  
Kai took a leap of faith and got on the frog's back. The frog swam to the shore quickly.  
  
Kai got off the frog's back and crawled up the beach. The frog put Hana's body on the shore beside Kai. Kai looked at her sisters limp body and started to cry.  
  
"Kai, Kai don't cry! Your sister needs your help!" spoke the pink head which had followed them to shore. "Remember what you learned in your swimming lessons okay?"  
  
Kai wiped away her tears and looked at Hana. Right, she had to do what she had learned in swimming lessons. She made sure the Hana's body was laid straight and she tilted her forehead back and her chin up to open the airway.  
  
'Okay plug her nose and breathe in her mouth' Kai thought. She reached for her sister's nose and then took a deep breath. She could see her sister's chest rise and fall as her own breath entered her sister's body. She did it once more.  
  
"Oh please Hana, I can't live without you!" Kai cried and breathed into her sister's fragile body once more. Hana's eyes suddenly opened and she started to cough up water. Along with the water, Hana puked on Kai but Kai didn't care, she had her sister back.  
  
"HANA!" she cried and pulled her sister in close, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Kai! Oh I thought I was gone for sure. But you said you'd get me back to dry land! I knew you'd do it!" Hana said as she clutched her sister tight.  
  
"Thank you" Kai said to the strange purple frog. It was then that Hana noticed the two creatures with them.  
  
"I'm Mizumon" the purple frog spoke. "I'm a digimon from the DigiWorld. I'm your partner Hana! I hope that someday you can come to the DigiWorld to play with me!"  
  
"And I'm your digimon Kai!" the pink head spoke. It was cute in a way with its big eyes and floppy ears. It had a horn on its forehead, reminding Kai of a unicorn horn. "I'm Karamon!"  
  
"Thank you for helping save me!" Hana said to the purple frog and opened her arms. The frog jumped into Hana's lap and she hugged it close.  
  
"We have something for you too!" Karamon spoke.  
  
"Ohhh! Pretty necklaces!" Kai said as she grabbed the two crests.  
  
"They are crests" spoke Mizumon, "Hana you get the crest of Belief" Mizumon pointed to the flower on the necklace Hana put around her neck.  
  
"And Kai, you have the crest of Freedom" Karamon said of the crest with wings and a halo.  
  
"We have to go now, but we'll see you soon I hope!" Mizumon said and then the two of them ran off into the ocean.  
  
"Hana, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll protect you for the rest of my life! I won't let anything happen to you! I won't let anything or anyone hurt you!" Kai said as she hugged her sister close.  
  
"Do you promise that Kai? Forever?" Hana said looking into her twin's eyes.  
  
"I promise forever!" Kai said.  
  
"Thank you!" Hana smiled  
  
That was eight years ago. Now Kai looked around her. Hana was gone. She didn't know where her sister had gone.  
  
"You left me alone Kai!" Hana's voice spoke.  
  
"Hana? Hana where are you!" Kai called into the darkness.  
  
"Kai you promised! You promised that you would never let me get hurt!" Hana's voice said again.  
  
Kai began to cry "Hana!"  
  
"Now you've failed. You let me down. You didn't keep your promise!" Hana's voice spoke in the darkness.  
  
"Hana tell me where you are! I want to help you!" Kai called with tears streaming down her face.  
  
"I'm over here" Hana's voice said and Kai saw a light in the distance and she ran towards it. "But I'm past help now!"  
  
When Kai reached the light she saw her sister's body. Hana was dead. She had let her twin down.  
  
Kai screamed.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Kai! Kai! Kai wake up! Kai what's wrong! What's going on?" A different voice spoke and her body was shaking.  
  
Kai's eyes flew open and she saw Tai sitting there beside her with his hand on her arm. She looked around her trying to figure out just where she was. They were in the digital world and it was night time. She and Tai had stopped to sleep. It was all coming back to her. Crying she buried her head into Tai's shoulder and held him close.  
  
Tai was taken back. He didn't know how to deal with crying girls. He barley knew how to deal with girls at all.  
  
"Kai, it'll be all okay. it was only a nightmare." Tai said. It was then that he remembered the boy saying that they would have to face their nightmares. He knew he had said the wrong thing.  
  
Hana was still missing. Kai knew that but she wouldn't let her down. "I'll find you Hana" Kai whispered.  
  
Tai looked down at the mess of blonde hair that was on his shoulder. Hana, that was the name of Kai's twin. Did this mean that she was missing? Tai thought about how he would feel if Kari had gone missing or something had happened to his little sister. Knowing the bond of siblings Tai could feel a small shadow of the pain that Kai must be feeling. Suddenly everything about her actions before seemed to make sense with her family back ground and her sister now missing. Why had he been such a jerk to her?  
  
Tai put his arms around her and hugged her close "It will be okay Kai, it'll be okay."  
  
~ 


	8. Stage Fright

Iori looked up at the night sky. He and Joe had been walking all day though the forest. It had been mostly uneventful except for when he tripped over a tree root which had been sticking up above the ground.  
  
"Maybe we should take a break?" Joe suggested "It's getting late and we don't want to get too tired. If we rest now we can continue to walk when it's light out. We have more of a chance to get hurt walking in the forest when it's dark out."  
  
Iori nodded and sat down on the ground next to Joe who had just seated himself. They sat in silence for a while.  
  
"Joe?" Iori asked "Do you think they will make our nightmares come true?"  
  
Joe turned to Iori "You know, I am not sure at all."  
  
"What if our nightmares aren't based on reality? Can they make un-real things become real?" Iori asked worriedly.  
  
"Best to just not get concerned until the time comes" Joe said. "Let's get some sleep."  
  
~  
  
Scott and Mimi walked though the doorway together.  
  
"Oh! This is my room back in New York!" Mimi cried delightedly.  
  
Scott looked around the room. It was decorated in pink and white. There was a box overflowing of letters and notes sitting on a desk. Stuffed bears lined the walls and bed and floor. There seemed little to no room to walk.  
  
Scott looked at the box of letters.  
  
"Seems to me you get an unusual amount of mail from a boy named Joe back in Japan!" Scott said as he lifted one of the letters out of the box.  
  
"Oh! Don't look at that!" Mimi said as her face flushed pink.  
  
"Ah-ha! I knew there was a boyfriend" Scott laughed as he danced around the room. He tripped over a stuffed teddy and landed on the bed.  
  
"Ouch! That hurt." Scott said rubbing his head which had hit the wall.  
  
"Joe's not my boyfriend" Mimi said as she picked up one of the letters. "He would be if I was still living in Odaiba, but it's too hard to have a relationship that far away. I do go back to Japan a whole lot more often than I used to though, so Joe and I can be together."  
  
"Wow. that must be hard" Scott said and Mimi nodded.  
  
Scott picked up the teddy he had tripped over.  
  
"Think you got enough of these?" Scott said as he tossed the bear to Mimi.  
  
Mimi laughed as she caught it. "I love teddy bears! I've been collecting them for years. My mum used to tell me to stop when she came in the room and tripped over one too. She used to tell me that I'd suffocate with all these bears in here."  
  
"Well you could!" Scott laughed as he threw another bear at Mimi.  
  
Mimi laughed as she dodged the teddy. "It used to scare me so bad! I couldn't sleep for about a week after my mum said that to me. Had horrible nightmares. I had my mum box them all up so they wouldn't be there to get me. But then I grew up and it didn't bother me anymore so I put the teddies out again. Still every once in a while the dreams come back."  
  
~  
  
Hana watched as the two shadowed figures talked. When she had woken up from her sleep she found the door to her room unlocked and nothing was around, not one digimon, to stop her from escaping.  
  
"Bob, you know that one of them is not going to make it" The girl spoke.  
  
Hana didn't know much about her other than she was with the boy. Hana did know Bob though. He had been kind to her even though he had captured her and kept her locked up in the digital world. He had dark black hair with deep dark eyes. He seemed to have some sort of love for Hana but Hana didn't care. He had taken her from everything that she cared about. She had to find Kai. Kai would keep her safe!  
  
"Hana's sister will make it though won't she?" Bob asked.  
  
Hana gasped and then covered her mouth. Kai was out there somewhere. Hana had to go and find Kai. Hana kept walking though the shadows and finally found a window that she could crawl out of.  
  
When she finally hit the ground she ran off to find her sister.  
  
~  
  
The shadowed girl heard a gasp from the other side of the room. Her plan had worked perfectly. The prisoner was going to escape and she wouldn't have to deal with that girl any longer with her whimpering and whining. But she had to make sure that Bob didn't find out before the prisoner had escaped the castle. If Bob was able to find the prisoner before she had gotten away he would keep his own personal watch on her to make sure that she never got away.  
  
"Her sister could die just like anyone else could" the girl in the shadows spoke.  
  
"That would kill Hana" Bob said softly.  
  
The shadowed girl smiled to herself. The presence of the prisoner that she had felt only a moment ago was gone. "Oh don't worry. Your precious Hana will be just fine."  
  
~  
  
Sora was glad that it was her boyfriend that she had been paired with. Not that she would have been upset to be with someone else, she just felt safer with Matt.  
  
"Hey Sora. Look there's a door here!" Matt said pointing to a door sitting in the middle of the swamp.  
  
Sora and Matt had been fortunate enough to be placed quite close to the castle but they were in the middle of a swamp that had made traveling really hard. Over the course of the day they hadn't done much.  
  
"Where do you think it goes to?" Sora asked.  
  
"Well anywhere is better than this mess!" Matt said.  
  
"Maybe we'll be able to see better there too!" Sora laughed. Even during the day it had been hard to see in the swamp because the overhanging trees blocked out most of the sunlight. Now that it had grown dark, it was almost impossible to see.  
  
Matt reached out and opened the door. He followed Sora as she walked in.  
  
"Wow! This looks like the club you usually play in!" Sora said in awe.  
  
"Yeah.. Exactly like it" Matt replied looking around. The place was packed and the rest of his band was on the stage.  
  
"OOOOOOOOOH! It's MATT!" A girl from the crowd screamed and the whole crowd started to make a lot of noise.  
  
"Teenage Wolves, Teenage Wolves, Teenage Wolves" the crowd started to chant.  
  
Sora elbowed Matt "I think they want you to get up there and play" she laughed.  
  
Matt blushed and nodded. Then went up to the stage and one of the other guys helped him up onto the stage. He picked up his guitar which was waiting for him and stepped up to the mic. The crowd cheered once again.  
  
"Sorry about that guy's!" Matt spoke into the mic and then nodded to the other members of the band. They started playing but things were going horribly wrong. Matt was playing a different song than the rest of the band and to make matters worse, his guitar was out of tune.  
  
The crowd looked at them onstage. Confused at first some laughed but mostly they looked on in bewilderment.  
  
"Oh Matt." Sora said under her breath.  
  
Matt finally caught on with the rest of the band and was playing the right song, but his guitar was still horribly out of tune. When it came to the part where he was to sing his mind went blank. He had no clue what the words were. The crowd started to boo.  
  
Matt stopped playing. The noise of the crowd booing them offstage was surrounding him. He knew what this was. It was the dream that had been haunting him since he had joined the Teenage Wolves. His greatest fear had been messing up on stage. He felt helpless and didn't know what to do. He looked out into the crowd that now looked like an angry mob.  
  
Sora watched as Matt's eyes glazed over and his muscles went limp. She wanted to reach out to him but it seemed as though the mobbing crowed was pushing her farther and farther away. 'You'll split into pairs. Your goal is to find each other and make it to the castle in one week's time. You'll have to face and over come your nightmares at the same time.' The voice of the creepy boy echoed in her head. This was it. This was Matt's nightmare.  
  
Matt felt so far away from it all. How could he go on like this? He wanted to crawl into a hole and die but he couldn't make his body move. He just watched as the crowd continued to mock him. Then a pair of eyes in the crowd caught his attention.  
  
They were kind and caring. Not filled with hate like the rest of the eyes in the crowd. She had a gentle look in her face.  
  
"I Believe in you" She spoke softly but for some reason the words felt louder to Matt than the rest of the commotion in the room.  
  
Sora watched as the glazed look in Matt's eyes seemed to melt away. He started to tune his guitar as he stared intently into the rebelling crowd, but at what Sora couldn't tell.  
  
Matt kept watching that face. Once he finally had his guitar in tune he felt better already.  
  
"I believe in you" the girl repeated once again.  
  
The words were all coming back to him. He started to play and after the first few bars the rest of his band joined in with him. Matt still had his eyes fixed on the ones in the crowd.  
  
"I believe in you" the girl smiled as the crowd seemed to settle.  
  
"Totsuzen yatte kuru shoutai fumei no fuan itsumo bokura wo neratteru Uke uri no chishiki kudaranai joushiki bokura wo madowaseru !" Matt sung out and the crowd started to cheer once again.  
  
The room around them started to fall apart and the mirage of what was Matt's nightmare started to fade. Matt, Sora and the girl from the crowd were alone.  
  
Sora looked around. They were in a green field that was farther away from the castle than they had been before but at least they were out of the swamp. It was then that she noticed Matt and the strange girl staring into each others eyes.  
  
"And who are you?" Sora asked.  
  
~ 


	9. The Loss of One

Hiya! Okay for those of you who are first time readers, just pass this note on by! For those continuing, you will want to go and read chapter 1~8 over again because I have re-written them with information that will be vital to understanding the rest of the story. Also it fixed up some mix-ups that were in them and got everything worked out. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but it really is much better than it was before (longer too YEAY!) Happy reading!! ~Rynn  
  
~  
  
Izzy woke up with a start. He had been having a horrible nightmare but the only thing he could remember from it was a baby crying. The crying haunted him in the back of his head.  
  
Light was just starting to show on the horizon. Meg began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked at Izzy.  
  
"Are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Meg asked.  
  
"I'm fine. I just had a nightmare, that's all" Izzy responded standing up.  
  
"According to The Game, nightmares aren't safe here" Meg said.  
  
"It was nothing. I don't even remember it!" Izzy said grabbing his laptop and strapping it to his back once again. "Besides, it's getting light again. We should try to find the others. We only have six more days, including today."  
  
Meg got up and stretched, trying to wake up the rest of her body.  
  
~  
  
"No TK! Trust me, we should go this way!" Daisuke yelled. He and TK had gotten into an argument about two meters into the forest and had been fighting ever since.  
  
Tai had given Daisuke his goggles and named Daisuke leader! Why wasn't TK listening to him now?  
  
"Daisuke that way is wrong! I know it! We should keep going straight!" TK yelled back.  
  
"Look, we are getting no where just standing here and fighting about which direction to go in! I say we go right so we go right! Got that TP?" Daisuke shouted.  
  
"It's TK" TK glared "But fine, we'll go your way because you won't shut up until we do!"  
  
The boys turned off to the right and in a few moments emerged into a clearing. The same meadow they had started from the day before.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me! We have walked for a day and a half only stopping to sleep and we end up in the same blasted meadow we started in!" Daisuke yelled and stomped his foot.  
  
"I told you that you were leading us in the wrong direction!" TK said. It was then that he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Oh sure! Just go blame this whole mess on me! You were arguing with me so much that I couldn't even concentrate on where we were going!" Daisuke said. He then noticed TK staring at something.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Daisuke questioned him.  
  
"Out there. do you see it? It looks like a." TK started.  
  
"COW!!" Daisuke shrieked a little too fast and an octave too high. Daisuke then hid behind TK, clutching onto his arm.  
  
"Daisuke, what are you doing?" TK asked surprised at how high pitched Daisuke's shriek had been. Never in his life did he ever think he would hear Daisuke scream like a girl.  
  
"Nothing" Daisuke said blushing and letting go of TK's arm.  
  
"Daisuke turned around to look at the forest that they had just left but the forest was gone. All around them was a huge meadow filled with millions of cows.  
  
TK and Daisuke turned in circles once. They were surrounded by cows. Daisuke started to shake.  
  
"Daisuke don't tell me this is your nightmare! You can't seriously be afraid of cows!" TK laughed.  
  
"When we were little, we went out to the country to visit my grandparents. They live out by a lot of farms." Daisuke spoke, keeping his eyes on the cows, "They let Jun and I sleep out in a tent all by ourselves and we thought that was so cool. There were cows in the area and we could hear them mooing at night. Jun thought it was funny to make up stories about rabid cows with red eyes and they were foaming at the mouth and would eat people. I couldn't sleep all night because I kept having nightmares. The next day my uncle took Jun and I out to a cow pasture with him. Jun started mooing and the cows started moving towards us, mooing back to Jun. I freaked out and made my uncle take us back to my grandparent's house while Jun was laughing her head off!" Daisuke said as TK just stared at him.  
  
"Well, you are not going to like this, but that cow behind you has red eyes and it's, uh, foaming at the mouth." TK was starting to get scared of the cows himself.  
  
Daisuke turned around and was face to face with the cow. Its red eyes stared evilly into Daisuke's.  
  
"If we ever get out of this alive, remind me to kill Jun!" TK said as he and Daisuke were back to back surrounded by rabid cows.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll help you kill her!" Daisuke replied.  
  
One of the cows bit off TK's had while another started eating Daisuke's hair.  
  
Daisuke started to cry as one started trying to chew on Daisuke's shoes. TK moved and Daisuke fell to the ground and quickly assumed the fetal position as more and more cows started to eat his clothing.  
  
TK watched as Daisuke's eyes glazed over and more cows started to surround him. Things were starting to get bad. He had to do something.  
  
"Daisuke! You know there is no such thing as human eating cows don't you?" He yelled over the cows. All he could hear was Daisuke's crying while being attacked by cows.  
  
"Why are you such a brainless twat?" TK muttered to himself "You charge digimon fifty times your size with no problem but bring on a few cows and you are a cry baby!"  
  
TK pushed his way though the cows and he could feel parts of his jacket get ripped off as cows tried to eat it. When he found Daisuke in the middle of the cows his shirt was mostly eaten and a shoe was missing. One leg of Daisuke's jeans was eaten up to his mid thigh and parts of the second leg were missing.  
  
TK knelt down on the ground beside Daisuke as his jacket continued to be eaten off of him. He noticed that Daisuke had cuts on his back that were starting to bleed. They had to get out of here quick.  
  
Daisuke's eyes were glazed and blank. He had stopped crying. TK grabbed one of Daisuke's arms and noticed how limp it was. Daisuke was giving up. Their fearless leader was letting himself be defeated by rabid human eating cows.  
  
TK shook Daisuke's shoulders "Daisuke! Daisuke listen to me! This is only a dream. You have to realize that this is only a dream!"  
  
Daisuke kept staring blankly off into nothing but the glaze was starting to melt in his eyes. TK had to keep trying.  
  
"There are no such things as rabid cows that eat humans! You know this. Come on Daisuke, snap out of it!" TK continued to shake Daisuke.  
  
Daisuke looked up at TK. They glazed look was almost gone from his eyes.  
  
"Daisuke, are rabid man eating cows real?" TK smiled.  
  
Daisuke looked pleadingly into TK's eyes. "No! June made them up."  
  
The cows stopped trying to eat Daisuke. Daisuke had a look of relief wash over his face.  
  
"SAY IT AGAIN!" TK yelled.  
  
"RABID MAN EATING COWS DO NOT EXIST!" Daisuke screamed.  
  
One of the cows turned and glared at TK. This particular cow did not have eyes were red like the rest of the cows. Instead it held the icy glare like the boy they had seen at the fountain.  
  
"I DO NOT BELIVE IN RABID COWS!" Daisuke yelled standing up finally.  
  
The illusion around them started to crack and fell apart. Looking around them they were still in the forest.  
  
"Ah-ha! So I didn't lead us wrong!" Daisuke smiled.  
  
"Oh give it up already!" TK sighed.  
  
"Just a nightmare huh? Well my shirt doesn't seem to make me think it was just a nightmare" Daisuke said pointing to the tatters of fabric that were barley hanging onto him. He ripped them off.  
  
"Looks like I'm going to just be shirtless now." Daisuke then looked down at his used to be jeans and sighed "with shorts. Oh man my mom is going to kill me! She just bought these last week!"  
  
"Yeah, well my new jacket and favorite hat are gone." TK said. He the looked at Daisuke's hair and back. Daisuke still had cuts on his back and TK wondered how long it would take for the now bald patches on Daisuke's scalp to grow hair back. TK then reached up and felt his own hair. All of it was there and he heaved a sigh of relief.  
  
~  
  
Kai had fallen asleep shortly after waking up from her nightmare but Tai couldn't get to sleep. He was trying to figure out what had happened to Kai's twin. As much as Tai knew he needed his sleep his mind kept racing with thoughts. Why would she have cried out if something hadn't been horribly wrong?  
  
Tai watched as the sun rose and he finally decided that he should wake Kai.  
  
It was funny how venerable Kai looked while she was sleeping. It was a vast contrast of how she usually looked, tough and defensive. Maybe Tai had been wrong about her. Maybe he had just let the game get to his head. He suddenly felt guilty about how he had acted after the soccer game.  
  
"Hey Kai, the sun's up. You should wake up." Tai said as he gently rocked her shoulder.  
  
Kai woke up and stretched. "Is it really morning already?" she asked rubbing her eyes.  
  
Ti nodded as Kai's stomach let out a loud growl. Tai's stomach growled in reply.  
  
Kai laughed "Seems as though we could use some food!"  
  
"Yeah, too bad we don't have any! Water either. I'm starting to feel real dehydrated." Tai said.  
  
"Maybe we should look for a stream or something" Kai suggested.  
  
Tai nodded and helped Kai to her feet. They both started walking too tired for conversation.  
  
Finding a stream wasn't very hard. As they walked along the meadow they ran into one accidentally.  
  
Both drank as much as they could and splashed the cold water onto their faces to wake themselves up. Tai finally felt like he could bring up the events that took place during the night.  
  
"Kai, about your nightmare last night" Tai started and Kai looked up at him.  
  
Her eyes darkened. "What about it?"  
  
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it." Tai said.  
  
"No" Kai said sharply.  
  
Tai was taken aback. "Well you just seemed really stressed out about it last night."  
  
"I don't even remember it" Kai snapped.  
  
Tai couldn't believe what was happening. Wasn't this the girl who had tried to patch things up between them yesterday? Hadn't she been easy to talk to? Just only hours ago she had clutched onto him while crying on his shoulder. He couldn't figure out what was going on.  
  
Tai wanted to try once more "Kai, last night after you woke up you said 'I'll find you Hana'. Did something happen to your twin before we got sucked into the game?"  
  
Kai glared at him "I don't want to talk about it!"  
  
Tai placed his hand on her shoulder "Kai, you can talk to me about anything!"  
  
Kai slapped his hand away "Why don't you mind your own business?" she yelled.  
  
Tai at first was shocked but it soon turned to anger "Well next time you have a nightmare, don't come crying to me!" Tai yelled back.  
  
They sat in silence for a while. The only sound was the murmuring stream. Tai took another drink and stood up.  
  
"We should probably continue walking" Tai said icily.  
  
Kai stood as well and they both started walking in silence.  
  
~  
  
Bob was sitting on the bed in the room where the prisoner had been kept, his head in his hands.  
  
He had a feeling his sister was up to something but to let Hana go. Why had she done it?  
  
Bob gently caressed the pillow where Hana had once laid her head. Hana was gone now and Bob wasn't sure how he was going to get her back. Soon Hana would meet up with the others and this could prove fatal for their plan.  
  
As soon as Bob saw his sister he would be sure to let her know how he felt about this situation she had gotten them into.  
  
He stood and with one last lingering look at the room he walked off.  
  
~  
  
Mimi picked up one of the bears and smiled "This one is my favorite!"  
  
Scott looked at it "Why is that?"  
  
"Because it does this!" Mimi exclaimed and pressed the bear's stomach.  
  
"I love you!" The bear exclaimed.  
  
Scott's eyes lit up with excitement "Hey! Give that here!"  
  
Mimi tossed the bear to Scott laughing. Scott caught the bear and started pressing the teddy's stomach rapidly.  
  
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I Love- I-I-I-I-I-I-I Love- I Love- I Love You-I-I-I-I-I-I- I-I-I-I-I Love- I Love You" The bear said and Scott laughed.  
  
"This would be so much fun to play with!" Scott exclaimed.  
  
"Simple minds, simple pleasures!" Mimi laughed again.  
  
"It's true!" Scott smiled and started to press the stomach on the teddy again.  
  
"I-I-I-I Love-I-I Love-I-I-I Love-I HATE You!" The bear said.  
  
Scott looked at Mimi.  
  
"That's kind of creepy! I could have sworn I hear it say 'I Hate you'." Scott said.  
  
Mimi looked worried "Press it again."  
  
Scott pressed the stomach on the teddy once more.  
  
"How would you like to have your stomach pressed?" The teddy said.  
  
Scott looked at Mimi only to see his looks of terror mirrored in her expression.  
  
The teddies head turned to face Scott as it spoke in a creepy voice that was like a half whisper "I'm going to get you Scott!"  
  
Scott and Mimi screamed and Scott threw the teddy bear to the ground. The teddy started to grow larger and as Scott looked around the room he noticed that all the other teddies were already triple their original size.  
  
Scott felt something grab him from behind and pin his arms to his back. Scott looked to see what had grabbed him and he was looking straight into the eyes of they teddy that had been on the bed beside him.  
  
Scott heard Mimi scream and he whipped his head forward.  
  
He couldn't believe what he saw. One of the bears had grabbed Mimi by the throat and had lifted her from the ground.  
  
"She said they would suffocate me" Mimi whispered as her airway was being cut off. Her eyes started to hold a glazed look in them.  
  
"Don't worry Mimi!" Scott yelled and started to wrestle with the teddy that was holding him back. Scott finally broke free and he ran to Mimi and ripped the teddy's arms away from her.  
  
Mimi dropped to the ground with a loud thud but Scott could still see her chest rising and falling. Her eyes were completely glazed over now.  
  
Scott saw an open doorway on the other side of the room and he fought his way though the bears to get a closer look at the door. Sure enough on the other side was the desert that they had been walking in before.  
  
"Mimi! Mimi I found a way out!" Scott yelled and turned back towards her. She was still laying on the ground.  
  
"Mimi! Answer me Mimi!" Scott yelled as the bears closed in around her pushing Scott closer to the door. He could see it start to close. Time was running out.  
  
"Mimi!" Scott yelled and still he had no response. Scott didn't want to be stuck with the killer teddy bears and the door was continuing to close.  
  
"Mimi! Come on! We have to get out of here!" Scott yelled. Scott couldn't even see the pink haired girl though the bears anymore. He looked at the door. It was almost shut.  
  
One of the bears caught his attention. The bear's eyes held the same look that the boy at the fountain's had. The bear laughed as the door only had enough space for a person to squeeze though.  
  
Scott made a dash for the door and ran into the desert as the door slammed behind him. He faced the now shut door and watched as it vanished.  
  
"MIMI!" Scott yelled out and started to cry as he fell to the ground. Looking around he saw that he was now at the edge of the desert where it bordered a meadow. He saw a stream in the distance and he decided that he should at least get some fluids in him.  
  
When he finally reached the stream he drank some of the refreshing water and then sat on a rock, pondering and thinking about Mimi.  
  
"SCOTT!" A familiar voice yelled and Scott was startled from the silent mourning of his new friend.  
  
He turned to see his sister running towards him and he got up and hugged her.  
  
"Oh Kai! I'm so glad that you are safe!" Scott said as he hugged his sister close.  
  
There was a boy with Kai, obviously her partner. He was the same boy that his sister had been fighting with at the fountain. By the expression on his face Scott guess that the fighting had continued during their travels.  
  
Scott smiled politely "I'm her brother Scott"  
  
The boy half smiled at him "I'm Tai" he replied.  
  
Kai broke the hug with her brother "Where is Meg? Is she alright?"  
  
Scott shrugged "I don't know, I didn't get paired with her."  
  
Tai's eyes lit up, excited that he would have someone other than the devil herself to spend time with. Maybe it would be Matt or Sora. Someone he could relate to.  
  
Scott's expression darkened. "My partner was Mimi."  
  
Tai stared at Scott dumbfounded "WAS??? What do you mean was?"  
  
Scott turned away from them. He couldn't look Kai or Tai in the face "She didn't make it out of her nightmare" he spoke softly.  
  
"You mean." Kai started to look worried.  
  
"Mimi died." Scott finally said.  
  
~ 


	10. Family Matters

Wormmon looked up at Ken. "I don't know how good I feel about this whole situation..."

Ken looked down at his partner. The green worm like Digimon had a worried look on his face and Ken knew that the same expression was on his own. He held Wormmon close to him and hugged him tight.

"I don't like it either but right now there isn't anything we can do. We're in the game and now we're playing. Nothing can stop us until the week is over." Ken said. He hated the darkness around them.

Ken leaned back against the crate behind him and closed his eyes remembering the last time he had seen his friends. It had been at Taichi's soccer game and after they had gone out for treats. When Ken had retuned home he had received a disturbing e-mail to which he could not disregard. Ken had then been taken into the Game in the Digital World and met up with the girl who became his partner in the game.

Ken opened his eyes and looked across the dark warehouse that had been sitting in. There she was. She had a mysterious beauty to her and her dark hair fell around her face framing it perfectly. It was long and strikingly black, pulled into two buns with long strands flowing around her. Her dark eyes were the deepest brown that Ken had ever seen. Hoshi had to be a lot older than him. Tai, Matt and the others were three years older than him, but Hoshi looked as if she could even be older than them. She was beautiful but in that creepy you knew something was wrong kind of way. He knew he couldn't trust her from the moment he had met her. But he also knew that he couldn't leave her side. There were rules to the game and he knew he had to play by the rules. He kept wondering if his friends had been left out of the game or if in fact as the dark haired boy had said, there were here in the DigiWorld as well. If they were he wanted to find them as soon as possible.

The girl, who's name was Hoshi, had her digimon partner as well. Her digimon was called Chocomon and it was a dark brown and black cat like digimon. Ken and Hoshi had come to the warehouse to get their Digimon. They had been at the warehouse for about an hour now and Ken was just waiting for Hoshi to give the signal that it was time to make a move.

"I think it's time to go, you've had your happy little reunion haven't you?" Hoshi asked as she stroked Chocomon who was sitting like a queen in her lap. The digimon seemed to have the same arrogance as its owner.

Ken nodded slowly. He still didn't have a good feeling about this but with having Wormmon at his side things seemed to be a whole lot better. The first few days of his time in the Digital World while Wormmon and Chocomon were being held captive had been very stressing on Ken. With Wormmon he felt like he was at least in a bit more control than before.

"Well then, let's go and see who we can find then." Hoshi said as she opened the doors to the abandoned warehouse "Shall we?"

Ken followed her lead.

---

"My name is Hana, Hana GaSaku. It's very nice to meet both of you," the girl spoke. She had long brown hair that reached down her back. I had a slight wave to it so the sun bounced off it with a glow. Her eyes were a soft deep brown and they were kind.

Sora still didn't like the way she was staring at Matt but there was nothing she could do about it. She stepped closer to Matt hoping to draw his attention away from the new girl.

"My name is Sora Takenouchi. This is my boyfriend Yamato Ishida" Sora said smiling up at the blonde boy at her side. She loved Matt so much but there was something in his eyes right then that made her worry.

Hana smiled brightly "I know Matt. I'm a huge fan of the Teenage Wolves. I've been following them since they started." Hana turned her attention back to Matt "I've tried to go to as many of your shows as possible but with my school schedule sometimes I haven't been able to make it!"

Matt blushed at the praise that the girl was giving him. Sora noticed. It wasn't often that you would see him blush. Sora hadn't seen him blush since their first kiss and even then he wasn't half as pink as she had been. Matt just didn't show emotions like that.

"I'm sorry to say that I've never noticed you at any of the shows. When you're onstage and there is a sea of people it's hard to pick out faces. Especially with those lights that they shine in your eyes. You almost go blind out there," Matt smiled.

"That's no problem. I didn't expect you know recognize me," Hana blushed in return. She then turned towards Sora, finally breaking the staring lock that she had been sharing with the blue eyed boy.

"I've seen you around too. No wonder since you're his girlfriend. You are so lucky, you know that? There are so many girls that would give anything to trade places with you!" Hana smiled sweetly.

Sora couldn't help but smile back "Yeah, I like to think that I'm lucky" she said as Matt slipped his arm around her waist.

Even though the physical protectiveness that Matt had just shown should have reassured all of her worries, Sora couldn't help but feel the knot that was forming in her stomach. She trusted Matt didn't she? Besides, he had just met this girl and they had done nothing to assert such accusations that were going on in her head.

Reality suddenly set back in as Matt noticed the castle in the background. This wasn't like some pleasant meeting, where they had just bumped into some new girl in the park but this was actual reality when their futures were on the line. They had already spent one day in the bog and now they really just needed to find their friends and get to the castle. Matt just wanted to go home.

"Are you a part of this 'Game' too? Where is your partner and why are you out here alone? You shouldn't have separated yourself." Matt asked his tone serious as concern flooded over his face.

It was then that it seemed horror had stuck over Hana. A light had suddenly gone on for her. Kai, she had to find her sister and she was loosing time, "Game? What are you talking about? I have been kept prisoner in there for the past two weeks!" Hana said pointing off in the direction of the swamp and castle in the distance. "But that doesn't matter, I need to find my sister. People are in danger here and I have it on good advice that someone here isn't going to make it back to the real world. I know that my twin is here, I just know. My sources are correct because my sources are the people who brought me here in the first place and they didn't know that I was listening. She's here in the Digital world and I have to find her NOW!" Hana was starting to get into a panic.

Matt's hand moved from Sora's waist to Hana's shoulder, "Don't worry, we are looking for some of our friends ourselves. We can help you look for her but we need to know more about her. Who is your sister?"

Hana looked up into his eyes again. There was something there that made Hana want to trust him "Her name is Kai... well Kagayaku, and she's my height with short blonde hair and green eyes." Hana's voice escalated and she was on the verge of tears. "I need to find Kai before she could be killed!" Hana finally was pushed over the edge and began to sob.

Matt trying to be of comfort to the poor girl wrapped his arms around her and she buried her head in his shoulder, wetting his shirt with her tears. Matt felt a surge of empathy and he hugged her close. He felt this overpowering feeling that he wanted to help her. He never wanted to see her cry again and he wished he could make her twin just appear. It was obvious by her description that her sister was part of the other group that had met at the fountains that night with them. She was out there somewhere.

"I promise that I will help you find your sister. Don't worry, I promise it'll all be okay" he murmured gently in her ear. Hana started to settle and Matt held her close.

Sora watched from a short distance. This was why she loved Matt so much. He was so concerned for others. Sure it was a trait that he had barely begun to develop, but she loved it when he was like that with her. Still she couldn't shake that knot that was getting bigger and bigger in her stomach.

---

Izzy could hear a baby crying. It started as a soft whimper, but it was starting to grow. It was as if the baby was getting more and more worked up about something and Izzy knew that he had to find it. There was something wrong and something in the back of his mind grabbed a hold of the situation. Something seemed familiar but at the same time Izzy had no clue why.

He and Meg had found a door and decided to give it a try. It had lead to a place that looked a lot like the highways around the Tokyo area but there were no cars traveling on it at all which was very strange. Izzy knew that Meg was still with him but the baby's cry had captured his attention and he could focus only on the cry and nothing else.

The pair continued to walk down the highway, not really knowing where they were going. Meg was just following Izzy's lead and Izzy had been following the cry from the baby.

Meg bit her lip. It was as if Izzy was in a trace or something. His eyes never blinked and they looked distanced. The cry from the baby was heart breaking and nagging in the back of her mind was the warning that the boy had given them at the fountain two nights ago before they had been thrown into this silly game. Of course she couldn't really call it 'silly' seeing as their lives were on the line. How did she ever get involved in this? She had been to the digital World twice. How did that make her a 'Chosen Child'? That's what the letter that she, Kai and Scott had called them, the letter that was the invitation into the game. It was because of Hana that they had come. The letter was a clue to her disappearance. Meg knew that her best friend was torn about her twin's disappearance but why couldn't it have been a regular kidnapping? Why did the future of their lived have to be thrown into the wager for an added element of surprise? Could this baby's cry have something to do with Izzy's nightmare?

---

Bob slammed his fist into the wall. Cursing under his breath he picked up one of the lamps and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with amazing force and shattered on impact. The lamp, now in shards, lay on the floor and Bob walked over it, crushing the tiny pieces with his shoes.

He glared, knowing that he should have thought twice before trusting his sister. He knew that she hated Hana. Well hate was a strong word but since Hana was such a sheltered girl, she didn't take the prisoner role very well. Sure it had been trying on all of them. Did Miss Evil herself not think that he had become tired from Hana's crying? But it was more than that. There was something about the girl that had drawn his attention. If only they hadn't needed to get the others involved. But they needed the crests... they needed to collect them all. So far they had one. The crest of sincerity. It was going to be a while before they got another crest though. And since Hana was gone, it was only a matter of time before she met up with a group traveling towards the castle. This could destroy their plans and ruin everything. Did she not think before she let Hana go?

Bob heard a movement in the shadows and his neck stiffened. "I hope you're happy with the mess you just created!" he said loudly and then stomped out of the room.

---

Daisuke and TK had been trekking though the woods for hours. TK had basically just let Daisuke take lead even if he really didn't want too. After living though one of Daisuke's nightmares with him, as stupid as it had been, he thought that it was only right that he let him have his way. The wounds on Daisuke's back had stopped bleeding and the blood had baked onto his skin in the heat. TK could barely look at it but what could he do? He knew that at the first stream or river he was going suggest that Daisuke clean himself up.

"Ah man! We've been walking for ages and it feels like we've got nothing accomplished. I'm so hungry too. I wish we had some sort of food or something." Daisuke said and his stomach, as if on cue, growled in response.

"Let's keep walking a bit more and see if we can't find some food or something. We really need to find the other's Daisuke." TK sighed.

"I hate to say this but my back is killing me. I really need to rest. I hate to sound like a wimp but these wounds are driving me nuts. And the dried blood is so itchy that it's driving me crazy too." Daisuke lay on the ground.

"Okay but only for a bit...." TK looked down at his companion to find the Daisuke was fast asleep. In reality it didn't seem that strange that he was so tired. They hadn't really slept much that night. When he really thought about it TK was quite tired himself.

"It can't hurt for us to have a bit of a nap now when the sun is at its height. Isn't that called a siesta or something like that?" he said aloud to himself quietly as he lay on the ground, "Well continue when it's cooler..." TK closed his eyes and drifted to sleep himself.

---

Kai hugged her brother close. It must have been horrible to have been there when his partner... well... died. She looked up at Tai. He looked as though he was in shock. No emotion was registering on his face at all.

"Look Tai, I'm sorry I'm sure she was one of your friends. I tired my best but, well there was nothing I could do. She just gave up... That's how our nightmares will defeat us, if we give up to them." Scott said looking up at the other boy.

Tai just nodded.

Kai felt horrible, but after their fight this morning she didn't really feel like she was in a position to offer any support to the boy. As bad as she felt, she just couldn't find it in her to open her mouth. She mentally kicked herself for her stupidity.

Tai couldn't believe the news that he had just heard. Mimi was gone. How could this happen? Suddenly the reality of the game came crashing down on him. They could die and this was deadly serious. The people running this thing weren't joking when they said their lives were on the line. Now more than ever he just wanted to find the rest of his friends and make sure that they were all okay and hadn't met with the same fate as Mimi.

"Look, let's just get a move on it and find the others. We have no time to just sit here. Only six more days and then it's over for us. We're stuck here with no return." Tai said turning and he started to walk off.

Kai nodded and stood herself and then reached down to help her brother up. He looked torn but he knew that it was best for them to gather the group. He knew first hand what happened in this game and he didn't want anyone to have to experience the same thing that he had.

As Scott stood he hugged his sister close. They stood there together for a moment. Kai could feel a hot wetness in her eyes as they started to tear but she blinked rapidly keeping them back. She had to be the strong one. She had to be the one there for her brother. It was always her burden to be the one with no emotion, to be there for her family.

"I'm so glad you are safe. I don't know what I would do without you Kagayaku. You're my little sister and I don't want anything in the world to hurt you!" Scott said loudly enough that the words drifted over the wind to Tai's ears.

Tai's eyes started to well as thoughts of Kari floated to his mind. She had been a sickly child when she was younger but lately she had seemed quite healthy. What if something was happening to her in the digital world right now? Tai wanted more than anything just to know if Kari was alright.

"Scott I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me I can protect myself." Kai whispered to her brother. "We'll all be fine from now on just don't worry about it..."

Scott let go of her and took a few steps back. As he looked at his sister he could see her green eyes growing cold. He knew she got this way when she felt helpless. Why couldn't she just let others in to help her? "You don't have to do this on your own you know that right?" he said to her.

Kai nodded, here eyes softened but only slightly.

Tai couldn't take it anymore. Sure it was a nice little family reunion but they didn't have eight other friends as well as a little sister out there somewhere maybe even fighting for their lives at the moment. He bit his lip trying to hold back the tears. He didn't want to show a weakness in front of Kai. He had to but just as strong... no make that stronger than her.

"Look, I know it's nice for you two to have your little family time, but I really think we should start finding the others. I don't want any more people to go missing or die so if you don't mind!"

"Let's go..." Scott said pulling on his sister's arm.

---


End file.
